Remnants AYZC
by SkyZeno
Summary: Remnant has secrets beyond what is known, threats beyond what can be seen, and people beyond what is possible. Join the journey of AYZC, 'heroes' beyond what has been seen before, in their journey to uncover their own pasts, and the past of Remnant itself.
1. Chapter 1

**Somewhere in Vale**

 **? PoV**

I sighed in relief as my favorite song came in over my earbuds, "Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There" was the name of the song. I took a few cans from the cart I had next to me and began stocking up the soup containers. I had been working here for about two years now, constantly on the push to make more and more money to support myself since getting seperated from my family...but that was too long ago to start thinking about it now.

"It means there's only soup!" A man's voice yelled, echoing above my earbud volume, which was quite the feat. I took my earbuds out and walked around the small store, trying to find out where the yeller was. I peaked down one of our three small aisle, and saw the man holding a black scroll, which was obviously on speaker.

"Then get out of the soup aisle!" I heard through my black fox ears, as the person on the other end of the line was talking softly. The man in question was wearing a black fedora and a normal black suit and seemed to be in an absolutely foul mood. Actually interested in the conversation, I decided to follow the man around and see how bad it would get, there wasn't always much comedy in this job so I had to get my entertainment where I could.

"Alright you don't have to shout me!" The man shouted as he walked into another aisle, to which I quickly followed. Could he be dumb enough to look for something other than soup in a soup store? I felt my eyes burn red as I continued to listen, I had a feeling this was going to get bad really fast.

"You really are dimwitted aren't you!" I heard the guy on the other end of the scroll say, as if he were reading my mind. I saw the fedora man grit his teeth, his skin turning a very odd shade of red.

"SCREW YOU DIPSHIT!" The man bellowed then threw his scroll on the ground, having it shatter into pieces. This was not going to end well, either A:He was going to destroy an aisle or B: He was going to destroy the store.

"Um, excuse me sir?" I said bravely walking down the aisle, ready to face this angry person.

"What do you want little shit?!" He asked me in a pissed off voice as he spun around to look at me. His two red eyes sort of threw me off but I spoke anyways, hopefully prepared for what was going to come.

"I have to ask you to leave before you destroy anything." I said gesturing around the aisle and towards the glass door. I would hate to have to explain to my manager why the entire store was left to shambles because one argumentative person. I took a deep breath and continued. "We are about to be closed and I'd much rather not have to clean up your mess."

"Or how about this?" He said in a smug tone of voice, folding his arms. "I stay here and you bring me exactly what I'm looking for."

"Listen here" I said starting to get annoyed more with this asshat. I checked my watch and saw we had just reached closing time. "This is after hours for me, I'm supposed to be off the clock but because of you wasting my time, I have to stay longer and clean up after you and restock. I'm not going to have you destroy anything or waste any of my time so get out of the store now!"

"Or what?" He asked with a smug tone, making me even more irritated than I was already getting. I took a deep breath, trying to control my tone and irritation but I knew it wasn't going to end up working very well.

"Serious you douche monkey, we can do easy way or the hard way. Choice. Is. Yours." I said intensely looking in his eyes, not caring about any form of repercussions. Suddenly the guy starts to slowly glow a bright red, as he cracks a very disturbing looking smile on his face.

"I vote the hard way." He said very menacing as the light started emanate from his skin, heat beginning to form around me. I don't know what was about to happen, all I know that is that I need to get away from him as quickly as possible.

"Oh no" I muttered quickly spinning my nine tails to take off the ground, pushing off with my feet as well, and flying to the door as fast as I could.

BOOM

An explosion tore through the entirety of the store and sent a shockwave right into my back, shoving me at extreme speed into the glass door. The horrible sound of metal tearing and glass shattering, along with a sharp pain going through my whole body, jarred me into semi-unconsciousness.

"Ugh." I groaned, laying on the ground in pain. I sat up after a bit and noticed the smoke had cleared, and the damage was made clear. The entire store, edged between two other buildings, was steaming a bit and was in a state of pure destruction. Pieces of aisle, glass, and even cement lay all around me. Well, there went my job.

"Disgusting." I groaned as I carefully began to pick myself off the ground, noticing pain was going through my right leg most of all, and slowly limped my way back towards the store. I saw nothing but wet soup and a large break in the far wall, leading into the other building. That was probably where the man had escaped to. I entered the back room to find my things amazingly intact. I sighed then grabbed my stuff and left, there was no way I was going back. The owner was not very fond of Faunus like myself, and I would almost certainly be blamed and jailed for the stores destruction. It was better to act like I wasn't there at all.

As I walked I noticed the wind blowing every so slightly, what a beautiful night it was. I glanced up at the stars and the cracked moon, amazed by its beauty. I had always wondered as to the story behind how it got the way it did, but it didn't seem anyone knew for certain, only stories we were told as children. I looked down at my clothes, which was comprised of Blue jeans that were worn and dusty, sneakers that which were once white, but due to age were now ash grey, and a T-Shirt with the words "Break of Life" written on it, which happened to be my favorite band. Sadly though the shirt was covered in all kinds of soups that were slowly drying on the shirt, which was rather disgusting. I needed to wash it when I got home.

"Who the hell was that? Why did he explode the store? Ugh, suck it up and go home Aura..." I said talking to myself. Even though I was super irritated, lost my job, and had my favorite shirt ruined, I still enjoyed my walk as it managed to really soothe me. I had always loved quiet walks by myself.

Turning the next corner, I saw a group of seven men walking. Normally I wouldn't mind it, however in the middle of the group I saw two men holding a struggling woman with blond hair and green eyes, by her arms. She looked to be fairly weak and had bruises all over her. They turned into an alleyway, and being someone who wouldn't stand for it, I ran after them into the alley, trying to focus my aura on healing my leg. This probably won't end well either.

"Let me go!" I heard the women yell with venom in her voice. Though she couldn't say anymore as one of the men slapped their hand over her mouth to keep her from yelling any further, but it was too late. I had already heard them.

"Don't try it lady. You are nothing compared to us." The assumed leader of the group said, though it was hard to tell as they all wore the same sort of black clothing and black masks. The rest of the guys then pulled out normal pistols and aimed it at the woman. "It's the middle the night, there's seven of us, and besides if you try anything again…we'll end you here. So just try and make yourself comfortable, because this is going to be fun."

He slowly reached forward towards her shirt with sexual intent, but before he could I threw a can right into the head of the supposed leader, amazed that I had hit my target.

"Hey!" I called, projecting my voice out across the alleyway as best as I could. Everyone turned to look at me, which cause me to clench my fists… sick bastards. These guys didn't even have the guts to show their faces, and hid everything but their eyes. From within me, I pulled on everything I had experience, both today and in my life. "Leave her alone!"

"Haha, nice joke there kid" Someone in the group said looking at each other before breaking out in arrogant laughter. The leader finally spoke after calming down from his own laughter.

"Now run along child, we adults have mature things to take care of." He said turning back to the woman, intent filling his body language.

"And by that you mean raping a woman, wow… how 'mature' you are…" I said sarcastically, my anger rising from seeing these purely horrible individuals. I then crossed my arms. "How about you actually TRY to be the mature, let her go and leave this place without any problems?"

"Listen child…" The leader started to say as he and the others pointed their guns at me. "Do you really want to die here, in a alleyway? It would be a shame if that were to happen."

"Ok, now you listen. I'm not afraid of you, and why should I? The fact that you think it's smart to do something this stupid is just funny. Really shows how intelligent each of you are." I said baiting them as I laid my trap. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I held out hope.

"Ok, that's it!" He shouted, obviously taking my insults extremely personally. "Ready, Aim, Fire!"

All of the filthy criminals simultaneously fired eight shots each at me, while the woman looked away from the scene. As the bullets moved from the gun I closed my eyes, really focusing on what I wanted to do and hoping that it would work out.

"Really? You think it would be that easy? Ha!" I said with a proud laugh, my plan working out perfectly. Even before their bullets had exited the gun I had already had a plan. Using my semblance I could move physical, non-living, objects. This meant that I could rapidly slow down the bullets as they came out of the gun in theory, though I hadn't exactly tried it before. As the bullets slowed, they came to a halt right in front of me, about to penetrate my body… luckily I had been standing this far back or I would have been a dead faunus guy. When they looked at me, they noticed that not only was I still standing, but the bullets were lightly glowing light blue and hanging mid air. "It's no use, take this!"

I flung each bullet back at each of the members, hitting them in various places on their body, though making sure they weren't lethal wounds. Each bullet hit its mark, wasting away a lot of my energy, causing me to fall to my knee. I was out of breath for a few moments, but quickly pushed myself up, knowing what I needed to do. I walked over to the woman who was in the middle of the fallen criminals, all groaning in pain, and helped the woman up. "Are you ok mi-"

"You stupid an-" One of the guys said, starting to stand up but before he could, I shot one of my tails out and hit the man in the gut. He collapsed back to the ground, and I stood over him, honestly feeling a bit of power coursing through me.

"Really? Haha" I chuckled as I looked the man in the eye, his eyes wide with fear. I bent down and punched him in the face hard, knocking him out. "People like you make me sick to think about. So just stay down!"

Knowing for sure they were all down, I turned back around to the woman. I took her hand and helped her up. "Anyway… are you ok Miss…"

"Goodwitch, Glynda Goodwitch." The woman said gracefully as she looked around for something. After a moment, she seemed to find what she was looking for around one of the criminals, and picked it up. In her hand was a black riding crop, which made me question her in my head. "And yes, I am ok Mister…"

"Sharp. My names is Aura Sharp." I told her with a stutter, my burst of confidence beginning to ward off.

"Aura?" Miss Goodwitch asked in a curious tone, as if she hadn't heard me right. I sighed, then repeated my name.

"Yeah… please don't ask." I said in a sort of defeated, beginning to walk towards the entrance of the alleyway. "Anyway, now that you're ok I'm going to drag my tired and slightly wounded body back home. See you around Miss Goodwitch."

"Wait a minute ." Miss Goodwitch called me before I could walk very far. I turned around and noticed she was walking towards me. As she reached me, I noticed that she was a few inches taller than me so I had to look slightly upward at her. "I would actually like you accompany me on my walk."

"To where and why?" I asked curiously, confused as to what this lady would want. Normally I would have refused to follow anyone with such a request, but where else did I have to go? I hadn't had that much in the first place and what I did have was basically destroyed by that man. Soon I wouldn't have enough money to pay rent, and I wouldn't find another job for sure. What could I lose by following her?

"I believe you will just have to trust me, your future will depend on it."She said softly, confusing me even further if I was honest. It would seem I wouldn't get my answers until we ended up where we were going, which I hoped would be the answer to my now looming problems.


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting Ozpin

**Aura's PoV**

 **Location: Unknown**

"And here we are." Miss Goodwitch told me as she opened a dull metal door to reveal a similarly dull room. Contained within was a simple metal chair and table with only a singular light hanging above the table. As we had walked away from the alleyway, Miss Goodwitch had led me to this dull building and said this would determine the fate my life would take, and I couldn't help but be curious. I entered the room and took my seat at the metal table. "Wait here Mister Sharp."

"Ok." I said as she turned around and closed the metal door behind her. The empty and slightly dark room gave me a few chills. I honestly felt like I was being held hostage, even though I had walked into this place completely of my own volition. For a few minutes I was left to nothing but my thoughts, and I had to admit I was getting stressed. Thoughts of where I would live and where I would go after I was done here boggled my mind, and honestly made me sad.

"Aura Sharp?" A male voice questioned from the doorway, shaking me from my thoughts. When I looked up, I saw a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. He had a light complexion and sharp facial features, along with black eyebrows contrasting his silver hair. He wore shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. His outfit consisted of an unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest and green shirt, he also wore black trouser shoes and long, and dark-green pants. In his right hand he held a cane, and in his left he held a mug with a unique symbol. His facial expression pushed confidence into the room as he had a sort of wisdom around him. It was odd, it was like I could feel the power this man had, despite the fact I had never met him.

"Yes, that's my name sir." I said to him as he walked over to the table and sat down opposite of me. Miss Goodwitch also entered the room and stood behind him as she held a tablet in her hands. She began typing something on the tablet, taking her eyes away from me and the room.

"Mister Sharp, I have heard all about your selfless act concerning Miss Goodwitch's unfortunate situation. While I have heard the story from Miss Goodwitch, I'd like to hear your perspective of events." The man said with a twinkle of curiosity in his eye as he sipped something from his cup.

"Ok here's what happened..." I said then began my story of all that had transpired today, with the man not exactly reacting to anything as I expected him too, it was like nothing I was saying was a surprise to him. He just sat there with a look of seriousness and listened to my whole story. When I had finished he took another sip from his cup.

"Hmm, interesting. So tell me…" He started gesturing towards Miss Goodwitch. She quickly turned the tablet she had been holding in her hand and it showed a video of me holding the bullets in mid-air then firing them back at the perverts. The footage seemed to be taken from a camera positioned at the top of the buildings that the alley was between. "Where did you learn to do this?"

"During the time I was with my family in Atlus, they taught me to live and fight for myself. My semblance came one day and I played with it as I fought. Though I never thought I would be able to stop bullets until today." I said trying not to sound cocky, I disliked cocky people. "That and I couldn't let those ugly people do horrible things to Miss Goodwitch, I wouldn't allow it."

"Is that so?" He asked rhetorically, taking another sip from his mug before continuing. "Very selfless of you to do so I would say. I'm sure Miss Goodwitch was very grateful for you stepping in. Now, with all of that out of the way, could you tell us about a bit more about yourself, It seems to me that you are more than meets the eye."

When he said that, my eyes widened. Out of all the things he could have said or asked me to do, I was not expecting that. I thought he might be a police officer, or someone else just looking to understand what had happened.I wasn't sure how to swallow this situation, causing an awkward silence that lasted a good seven seconds before I cleared my throat and decided what i wanted to say.

"O-okay sir." I started, getting a bit nervous for some reason. I took a deep breathe then started my explanation. "My name is Aura Sharp and I'm from Atlus in a really small area where people like me weren't exactly treated well. I lost contact with my family at some point then ended up in Vale. I've just been trying to survive off of scraps for about two years now, doing what I could and working as I could. Just trying to survive in this world."

"It seems from what I heard of your night, that this has not exactly worked out in your favor." The man said softly, stirring whatever was in his cup a bit. He stared at a spot on the table.

"What I am quite interested is your semblance, it is of a nature I haven't quite seen. Though I have met other phonics, none have displayed quite the… talent you have I should say." The middle aged man said, then looked back up at me. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to hear more about it.

"This may take a few minutes to get out, it's a bit hard to control in normal situations." I said getting up from the table and putting as much distance between me and them so I could show them my power without potentially killing them.

"Very well, please proceed Mister Sharp." The man said in a calm tone. I was slightly looking forward to showing off, there wasn't many times in my life that I had been able to show off who I was and all that I could offer.

"Okay." I said taking a deep breath before continuing. I pointed my outstretched hand at the chair I had been sitting on and really focused my mind. My mind turned into a blank slate and all I could picture was the chair moving towards the wall behind it. Before I could blink the chair flung at the wall at extreme speed causing the metal chair to crash through a part of the wall. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It is perfect fine Mister Sharp, In fact this sort of thing happens quite often. Investing in chairs and tables is one thing but perhaps it is time for an upgrade on the walls." The man said looking at the hole with a bit of surprise on his face. I glanced at Glynda and saw she had looked up at my feat, emotionless. She then began typing furiously on her tablet. "Tell us a bit more about your semblance Aura."

"Well I can move just about any object, though how quickly I get drained depends on the speed and weight of the object. Also for some reason, my semblance doesn't really work on living things that well, unless they happen to be...dead."

"Very interesting. You said you were trained to fight by your family, do you have any weapons or ways of fighting that might be of interest." The man asked taking a sip from his cup.

"I can use my tails as kind of fists in a sense, tho they dont have as much control as my hands can, they can grab certain things. I can also use them as rotors to fly and hover; however it takes quite a bit of effort and energy to pull off, so I try not to do it too often." I said showing them my tails, which were mostly black with an accent of gold at the tips.

"That is quite unique. I don't think I've heard of a faunus being able to do that sort of manver." The man said then waited for me to continue. I took another deep breath.

"Okay so, I also have a sword that I can summon at will." I told them, then outstretched my hand a bit. Faint glowing green energy came from my hand area and began to materialize into a large gold ring with two blades at opposite ends, and a handle in the middle of the ring that held made it sword-like.

"This is my weapon: Mythrid Truths" I said showing it to the two adults, to which Glynda began typing furiously on her tablet once again. I assumed she was writing information down about me specifically. "It may seem unuseable to most, but I assure you it is very usable."

"Hm, very interesting Mister Sharp." The man calmly said before looking back towards Miss Goodwitch, who seemed to had just finished typing on her tablet

"It was a gift from my father, who apparently used it before me. It took me a while to learn but I think I have learned to use it quite well myself." I said as a glowing green glow enveloped the sword once again, causing it to disappear into just light. "Now that lengthy explanation is out of the way, I need to ask. Just who are you?"

"Oh, of course." He chuckled, a sparkle in his eye developing. "Where are my manners? I am Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy."

"Wait. Y-You're Ozpin!?" I asked completely flabbergasted, this was honestly something I hadn't expected. I had only ever heard stories of the man called Ozpin, but I couldn't believe I was talking to the actual Ozpin.

"Yes I am." He said simply, taking a sip from his mug. "I'm rather flattered that you have such a reaction to seeing me, good to know that I'm a known individual."

"Who hasn't heard of you!" I said, excitement rising inside me. "You're the headmaster of Beacon Academy, The most prestigious academy in all of Remnant!. I mean I've heard so ma-Wait a second… di- did you just interview me?! Why did you do that?!"

"Perhaps I should cut to the chase Mister Sharp." He said standing up and taking a breath, then looking to me. "You have the makings of a great huntsman. You're smart, cunning, determined and show you can handle yourself in a fight. Not to mention you showed true bravery, fearlessness, and selflessness tonight. You truly have impressed me Mister Sharp, and that is not something many people can accomplish. Due to this, I'm required to ask you, how would you like to attend Beacon Academy this upcoming month?"

That all hit me like a bullhead to the face, the headmaster of the most prestigious school in all of Remnant wants me to attend HIS academy, and said all these good things about me. I looked up at him with endorphins running in my body.

"YES! OF COURSE I WANT TO GO!" I said loudly with a bit too much excitement in my voice and a bit too loudly, but I didn't care about being embarrassing, I had the chance to go a Hunter's school and train to be a huntsman! This was honestly a dream come true.

"Wonderful." He chuckled as he turned around and opened the door. He paused then looked back at me with that sparkle still in his eye. "I shall see you at Beacon, Mister Sharp, I believe it will live up to all your expectations and I certainly hope you will live up to mine."

"Thank you, sir. And I hope to learn a lot during my time there." I said with a bright smile on my face; and with that, both Professor Ozpin and Glynda left the room and left me alone. For a moment, I stood there trying to bring myself back to reality. Had that really just happened?

As I exited the room and began my trip back home, all I could think about was how this was the best day of my life. In just a month, I would be going to the most prestigious academy for hunters and huntresses! I knew I had a spring in my step and a wag from each of my tails as I walked all the way home. This was going to be fun. I surely hoped I would meet new people and have a super interesting year.


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome to Beacon

**2 Weeks Later**

 **Location: Bullhead**

 **Aura's PoV**

I glanced out of the window of the Bullhead I was in that went to Beacon, with the a wide grin on my face, all nine of my tails wagging vigorously in all different directions. It was the happiest day I had ever had if I was honest with myself. I looked around at the large number of people that were around me also heading to the prestigious school, and was interested at the sheer number of different student that were attending the school. After taking a look at the various students of all walks of life, I noticed a holographic news report.

"...The robbery was lead by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities." I heard a man's voice say from the holographic projector that seemed to be coming from nowhere in particular. On the screen was a man, who I assumed to be the aforementioned Roman Torchwick. He has had slanted, dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. He also had black eyeliner traced his visible left eye. He wore a red-lined white suit, small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves. As if you couldn't figure out he was a villain, the picture was of him in a mug shot, sign and all.

"If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale police department. Back to you Lisa." The feed then cut to news reporter Lisa Lavender, Who wore a black business suit with a white dress shirt, her eyes were yellow, and her hair was ironically lavender.

"Thank You Serum. In other news," She said as the feed then switched to an image of several faunus protesting with picket signs. "This saturday's faunus civil rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony."

The image on the screen then changed to the symbol of the White Fang: The head of a Beowulf with three claw marks going through it. I got a terrible feeling in my stomach as I saw this symbol. I had so much history with the White Fang and so many...torn feelings. I agreed with what the White Fang had fought for, and what they stood for, but they were a lot more violent than I wanted. I didn't want innocent people to die but coming from Atlus… it was hard to find innocent people. It was hard to not have some sort of bad feeling towards humans sometimes.

"The once peaceful organization has now disrupted-" Before she could finish her report, the feed cut out and a holographic image of Miss Goodwitch appeared on the projector. Nearly everyone turned towards her, as she gained their attention.

"Hello and Welcome to Beacon. my name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor to attend this prestigious academy. This world is experiencing an incredible time of peace…"

"Not if you're a faunus..." I muttered to myself as I watched.

"... And as future hunters and huntresses, it's your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task. And now it's our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." With those words, the feed cut out. I took a breath then looked out the window and saw the city of Vale below us. Thoughts of the future clouded around in my head, thoughts of so many people, in our capable hands made me nervous. But I shrugged off the nervousness and replaced it with determination. Determination to protect all who were depending on us. It was then I heard someone who didn't sound like they were having a good time. I looked to my right and saw someone who looked like they were going to throw up.

He was a tall teenage boy with dark-blue eyes that was emphasized by his short blonde hair messily layered on his head with the right side of his hair nearing his right eye and the left side swept back. He wore a white diamond-shaped chestplate cut off above his lower abdomen and white spaulders with rerebraces set under them. Underneath the armor, he wore a black short-sleeved hoodie with detached reddish-orange sleeves. He also wore blue pants with a white patch on the left knee, as well as black high tops with "left" and "right" written in black on the respective shoes' soles, as well as elbow guards with cords strung through them.

He had two belts crisscrossing his waist, both different shades of brown, with a pair of small pouches on them. He wore brown wrist-length gloves with exposed fingertips and small metal plates over the back. He also had a sword that was strapped to his left hip in its sheath. He was trying his best to keep the vomit in as well as not fall over while he wobbled pass me, probably to look for a garbage can. I guess he couldn't handle the air trip.

Not even a minute went by before he passed me, I heard someone repeated yell "gross" over and over again. I look to my left and saw a blond girl chase a red and black haired girl around the bullhead, the blond had puke on her boot and the red and black haired girl was saying "get away from me" over and over again too. As they ran around the ship, I got a good look at them both.

The black haired girl was a fair skinned young girl with silver eyes and black, neck-length, choppy hair that graduated to dark red at the tips. She wore a long sleeved thick black blouse with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves, a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front, and a black skirt with red trim. She also wore a pair of thick black stockings and black combat boots with red laces, red trim around the top and red soles.

While the blond was also a fair-skinned young girl with purple eyes and bright golden hair worn loose that fades to what looked like pale gold at the tips with a cowlick sticking out at the top. She also wore a tan jacket that that was open at her large… um…"assets", it also bares her lower stomach, with golden brown piping and short, puffy sleeves with black cuffs that feature two gold buttons. Underneath this she wears a low cut yellow crop top with her emblem on the left breast in black She also wore a brown belt covered by a pleated brown piece of material reaching from hip to hip around the back of her waist, with her emblem emblazoned on the rightmost pleat in gold, as well as a pair of black mini-shorts. She wears brown, knee-high boots and orange over-the-knee socks, with the right sock pushed down just below the knee. A lavender bandana is tied around her left knee. An orange infinity scarf and black fingerless gloves also completed her outfit.

I kept looking around and noticed someone who was standing near the blond, it was a male monkey faunus who looked to be 6 feet tall. He had red and white hair on his head with black hair going along his sort of bushy eyebrows, his eyes being black as well. He was wearing a long red shirt, along with a red vest, that reached the middle of the shorts, which were decaled in explosions that covered just about all of his kneecaps with some extra pockets on the side. He also wore two belt like straps that criss crossed along his shorts that held his weapon to the back of his shorts, standing vertically up. The weapon was a large, blue spear with a chain around the hilt which seemed sort of normal for this school, though I guess I shouldn't let looks deceive me. He seemed very focused on the blonde haired girl, and I was pretty sure why…

"Hm." I muttered as I turned towards the window, awaiting the landing and enjoying the ride as it came. After a while we finally reached the school and I was one of the first people out of the bullhead when we landed. I was way too excited to let anyone beat me to the school. We were let off at the docking bay, which was a small area on the cliffside that opened up to the main avenue of the academy, which had an impressively large door with red-leafed trees at the main building. As I walked to the main building, many potential students passed me, some of which were faunus which was yet another surprise to me.

When I reached an intersection, I heard a voice from the bullhead. I turn around and saw the two girls from earlier, minus the monkey faunus. The red haired one was holding a scythe that was obviously bigger than her. Curious about the two, and wanting to make fast friends, I walked over to say hello. As I was walking I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings and bumped into a red haired guy with burning red eyes, he shot me a sort of glare. He was a muscular guy, with a leather jacket, black shorts, and a pair of odd looking boots.

"Watch it." He grunted in a deep voice walking right past me, not giving a single care as if he had hurt me.

"Sorry." I muttered in apology, but I could tell he was obviously not listening to me. I shook the guy off then continued walking towards the two girls.

"... It's like meeting new people, but better" The red and black haired girl said, seemingly referring to our weapons, which I found pretty funny. I snickered, unintentionally gaining the attention of both girls.

"Oh… hello" The blonde said, putting her hands on her hips and giving me a confused look. "… who are you and uh… why are you just standing there?"

"Sorry, I just overheard what she said. I thought it was funny." I said pointing to the black haired girl. The two looked at each other for a moment. "I don't really know many other people and I was hoping to make some new friends so uh...my name is Aura Sharp, and your names are?"

"Aura?" The blonde girl said before bursting out in laughter, like almost everyone does. After a few seconds she stopped laughing but still had a large smile on her face. "The name's Yang Xiao Long. Badass in training."

"I'm Ruby Rose." Ruby said still giggling a bit, though it was hard to tell if it was because of my name or just her personality. Maybe it was a mixture of the two. "It's nice to meet you, Aura."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." I said slightly pissed off at my name, which I didn't necessarily like. It was enough that alog of human would look down on me just because I was a faunus, but even in places I was accepted for my physical traits… I was made fun of for my name.

"Ruby, come on" Yang said as she pulled her sisters hood down over her face, messing with her. "Why don't you try making new friends of your own, like Aura here?"

"But…" She started as she pulled her hood up, then glanced at me, then back to Yang. "Why would I need friends when I have you"

"Well… my friends are here right now, gotta go catch up, kay, c'ya, bye" She said as a group came by and ran off with her, leaving Ruby completely confused and me baffled. These had to been the weirdest two people I had ever met, with the exception of the explosion guy.

"Wait, where are you going? Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? Do we have dorms? I don't know what I'm doing…" She said as she fell backwards onto someone's luggage, scattering it all around her.

"Are you okay?" I questioned as I reached down to help Ruby up. but before I could grab her hand a screeching voice rang in my ears, completely distracting me.

"What are you doing?" I heard the high pitched girls voice ask incredulously. I looked over to my right and saw the person who was talking. She was a pale skinned young girl with pale blue eyes and long, white hair pulled back into an off-center bun tail and pinned with an icicle shaped tiara. A crooked scar also run vertically down her left eye. She looked very familiar to me and I couldn't place why she did. She seemed to have an angry and determined look on her face, along with this surrounding feeling of confidence.

"Uh… sorry" Ruby said as she sat back up, obviously very confused. The intensity of how she talked made me backup a little, but I was honestly more concerned with figuring out who she was.

"Sorry? Do you two have any idea of the damage you could have caused?" She said harshly, hastily snatching the briefcase that Ruby was holding out to her. "Gimme that. This is dust, mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry."

"Uh…" Ruby said as the white haired girl opened the case to reveal vials full of dust which glimmered in the sunlight. Suddenly I remembered why I knew her. This was Weiss Schnee, star child of the Schnee mining company. The very same people that put my family through hell and treated faunus like trash.

"Are you brain dead?" She asked harshly as she took a vial from the case and shaking the vial, unintentionally powdering Ruby. "Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!"

"Hey we should prob-" I tried to intervene but the Schnee was already on a roll… a quite annoying one at that. I just wanted her to shut up.

"Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say for yourself?!" She yelled as she released a large cloud of dust towards Ruby. I immediately took a step back, knowing where this was going.

"Uhhhhaaaahhh-Choooo!" Ruby sneezed. However because of the fire dust it wasn't just a sneeze, it was an explosion. I hadn't been able to get away as fast as I wanted too, and ended up getting caught in the explosion. I went flying and smacked into something, waking me up from my daze of being in flight. I gained my eyesight back and saw that I was high up in a tree.

"Great…." I muttered to myself as I looked around the area. I was already away from Ruby and the Schnee, ruining my chance of having a friend at the orientation later. I decided to take it upon myself to explore and let myself down the tree, using my spinning tails to hover to the ground safely. I happened to be in some sort of beautiful garden with flowers, trees, and benches. As I looked at the beautiful scenery I thought about Ozpin's promise. The promise of having an interesting year, and I had to say… I felt that it was going to be one too.

 **Timeskip: Night**

 **Location: Beacon Ballroom**

"Well, not where I would be expecting to sleep… but hey, at least we have somewhere to sleep." I said to myself as I tried to talk up my accomodations, entering the library after our orientation. The orientation itself went by so quickly, and included information I already knew, that it kind of seemed to slip by me. My excitement from being here had really given me a lot of energy and made everything fly past me in a kind of blur. I shook my head grounding myself back to reality, then look around.

The ballroom was filled with students of both races, faunus and human, though with more concentration on humans. Having faunus even in the school was something that was a bit of a surprise to me, had I been in Atlus I would never have been allowed to go to the school.

Looking around, some of the people were messing around, some were talking about tomorrow, some were doing heavy flirting, and a few actually were actually deciding to get some early rest to prepare for tomorrow. I kept looking around and saw a few familiar faces, like Ruby and Yang, that monkey faunus, and even the guy in the leather jacket I had bumped into earlier.

I decided I should probably get some sleep as well, not knowing what tomorrow would bring. I changed into in a silk robe, with long sleeves that reached my ankles. The robe was two-toned, the top half blue, and the bottom red, with a black sash separating the two. It sort of looked like I came out of a shower or bath.

As I was walking to my sleeping bag, I saw someone… peculiar sitting against the wall. Not that anyone here was particularly normal it was just this person seemed a lot different than all the rest. He looked to be about 18 years old, had tanned-white skin, and wore an almost dead expression on his face as he stared blankly at the floor.

One of the things that made him stand out to me was his hair and eyes. His eyes were lightning yellow and seemed to glow a bit, and his hair followed the same color pattern but without the glow. Another thing that made him stand out was the fact that he didn't look like he had a sleeping bag, pillow or blanket, nor any form of sleepwear at all. His clothing consisted of a tight black shirt, black cargo pants, a black trench coat, black boots, and a small ring on his right ring finger that had the design of a black lightning bolt held within two lines of yellow. For some reason something about him just seemed off, the way he was just staring in the distance fiddling with the ring on his finger. I decided to walk over to him and strike up a conversation.

"Hi, how are ya?" I said taking a seat next to him, he glanced at me then looked back to the ground.

"Well, we are having wonderful weather." He said back to me with a sly smirk appearing on his face. I didn't understand at all why he was smiling at that, but I went along with it anyways.

"My name's uh… Aura Sharp. Who might you be?" I said reaching one of my tails out to shake his hand. I wasn't sure why I felt compelled to do it but it just struck my mind.

"Zinex." He said simply, shaking the tail without even a second thought. I couldn't help but stare at him after he did that, I was in complete shock. I had honestly expected him to be completely disgusted by it and tell me to go away and to leave but he seemed like he didn't care. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed my confusion. "What? Did I get something on my face again?"

"No its… Nothing? Not going to laugh at anything?!" I said honestly surprised by the fact he didn't laugh or snicker at my name, which nearly everyone I had met had done.

"Laugh at what?" He said still confused, which further confused me.

"About my name, or even the fact that I shook your hand with my tail!" I said waving the tail he shook in the air. He laughed a little, then glanced up at the ceiling for a moment, taking a deep breath, then returning his gaze to the floor.

"A name's a name bro. As for the tails? Not really a big deal to be honest, I've seen crazier." He said honestly with a shrug. Finally, a human who wouldn't laugh because of my name, or discriminate me because I was a faunus. This guy… Zinex, made me rethink the white fang a bit. They couldn't be completely right, there were good humans out here.

"Oh, ok…" I said not knowing how to react to his nonchalant attitude this guy had. I began to wonder more about this guy who had already impressed me, what was his story? "So, what brought you to Beacon?"

"Well… that guy uh Oz… Oz- Oz- what was his name?" Zinex questioned, obviously not remembering the headmaster's name.

"Ozpin." I said finishing the name, though raising an eyebrow. I knew he couldn't be from Vale, if he was he would have known Ozpin's name easily, as he was widely known.

"Yeah, Ozpin" Zinex said continuing his story, though seemed to be thinking very hard. "Ozpin let me in cause I saved someone from a large… uh… creature…"

"Grimm" I said, finishing his statement once again, that part made me doubt the intelligence this guy had. Who didn't know what a Grimm was?

"Yeah, he saw me kill a large one, I think it was a giant bird" He said finishing his story. By this point, if I had water in my mouth I would have spit it out.

"You took out a Nevermore by yourself!?" I whispered just loud enough that he could hear me and no one else would. I was honestly in pure disbelief.

"I mean with the weapon I was given, why?" He asked back, confused again. He obviously didn't know the gravity of what he had done, which made me question him a lot more. I blinked and paused for a second, trying to see if he was lying to me but his face told me he was being extremely serious.

"A Nevermore is one of the most dangerous grimm to fight, and you took it out, all on your own?" I asked still in my hushed tone of voice. Then my thoughts strayed to the facts of his very limited knowledge. "Wait, how do you not know what a grimm is, yet got in here?"

"Yeah… about that." He began with extreme hesitance, now not looking at me at all. "Well, my parents used to keep me around the house all the time, and never let me watch the news. They did however train me to fight before they… died. After they died, I went out exploring and found the… uh... the Nevermore, attacking this old guy, so I killed it to protect him."

"Wow…" I said slightly awestruck, sitting back on wall. This guy had done that all himself? Without anyone to help? I didn't know who this guy was, or if he was telling the truth, but he sure had given me a shake, I wondered what team he would be on. I then got up and stretched with a yawn. "It's been fun but we should turn in, I heard we are going to have a big day tomorrow. Hope to see you in the later."

"See yah." I barely heard him say as I walked to my sleeping bag, which was on the other side of the ballroom. I laid down inside the bag and glanced over to the guy, only to find he had disappeared completely from the spot he was in. I closed my eyes, as the lights dimmed, and thought of tomorrow. A lot could happen tomorrow, just as it had today, so what else could possibly happen tomorrow that would make it crazier?


	4. Chapter 4: Initiation

**Location: Locker-Room**

 **Aura's PoV**

This was it. This was the day that I would prove myself to be worthy of going to Beacon. This was a day I had only ever dreamed about, but never believed it would come true, but yet it had.

I got out of my sleeping bag, noticed the other people around me were getting ready as well, and changed into the normal clothes I usually wore. I wore a black tux with a blue dress shirt that had white buttons going down. I slid one my black dress pants, which were held up by a white belt with a red buckle. Accenting my clothes, I also put on a pair of glossy black bracelets that I had received from my youngest sister. Staring at the bracelets for a moment, I thought back to my family. I missed them a lot, and I wondered if they missed me… I quickly ushered the thoughts of them out of my head...I didn't want today to be a sad day. This was the day I took control of my destiny. I made my way to the locker room, to prepare for initiation.

I looked around at all the other students putting some of their stuff into lockers that the school provided. I was told that they would be summoned at will, so they were useful. When it came to me, I didn't find any use in the locker when I could summon my weapons at will. I decided to use it more to store extra clothes I had, just in case I ever needed to change.

"Well, looks like somebody's getting their spirit on." I hear a familiar voice say as I finished putting my extra clothes into my designated locker. I closed my locker then turned to see Zinex leaning up against a locker, not at all changed from before. He honestly looked the exact same as he had before, same expression, with only a smile on his face. I glanced around him, trying to look for a weapon of some sort, but didn't see anything.

"Oh, hey Zinex." I said to the guy. I was about to question why he hadn't changed his clothing at all, but decided that might be a strange thing to ask, so I held off. "Are you ready for initiation?"

"As ready as I can be." He said with a laugh as we both began to follow the rest of the students to where we were supposed to go. "You got any idea what they have planned?"

"I have no idea, all I know is that we're supposed to go to the cliffs" I said glancing around at the various student to see all sorts of people, human and faunus alike. Some looked confident, others looked scared, but most seemed expressionless, possibly trying to get themselves prepared for what was going to come.

"Cliffs? Interesting." Zinex said with an with an odd smile. I noticed a slightly pained look on his face when I said cliffs. Was he scared of heights? "Well I guess it could be worse, anyways good luck. I wanna get a good look at what we have to do."

"Yeah, same with you..." I said in a friendly demeanor, as I looked at the other students. I turned to look at him to say something, but couldn't see a single sign of him. Where had he gone?

After about fifteen minutes of walking through the school and nature, we arrived at the cliffs. Ozpin and Glynda were waiting for us, along with several other people. I looked around at my fellow students and saw everyone I had met so far. Zinex seemed to be the first one on the left, possibly being the first to arrive. He seemed to have a irritated expression on his face for some reason. On my right was both that off monkey faunus and the guy that had puked on the bullhead. We were then directed to step on a number of pedestals that lined the edge of the cliff. Just stepping on the pedestals made me anxious for some reason, but I powered through it.

"For years you have trained to become warriors." Ozpin began in his wise yet soft voice. He took a look at all of us, as if seeing where our attentions were. "Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald forest."

"Now…" Miss Goodwitch began, still holding her little tablet. "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors of the assignment of teams."

"Nope, not really." I muttered as I continued to listen to both of them.

"Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion" she continued, "Each of you will be given teammates… Today."

"What? Aw…" I could barely hear Ruby say from the background. Thank you fox ears.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon" Ozpin continued, "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

Considering most/all of us just met recently, that was highly unlikely. Out of all these people I didn't really know much about any of them. They all seemed so different, so much unlike me.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin continued once again. Causing a jaw drop for me, how could that be? Then I focused on what he said… landing?

"What!?" I heard Ruby squeal in the background, along with someone saying "See? I told you!"

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest" He began to explain. "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path, or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair will choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately."

So get into the forest, find a partner, and get a relic. This couldn't be too hard, but my question was how we were going to get into the forest? My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the sound of someone whooping. I shot a glance to my left and saw the platform Zinex had been standing on was raised up and he was going sky high. For a second I was confused but then what was going on hit me.

Oh… no…

Three seconds later, I felt my body launch forward and the ground leave my feet, as I was catapulted into the air towards the Emerald Forest.

"I can't believe that I was that stupid!" I yelled at myself "He said 'when you land', that would indicate you would either be dropped, or launched!"

Sighing at my own stupidity, I decided to focus on my goal of hitting the ground but not dying. Using my tails, I slowed down my velocity and made my way down through the trees, avoiding various branches and twigs. When I landed I took a few second to gather my bearings, and then ran off northward, luckily I was a kitsune. I could run way faster than a normal human could run due to my genetics.

"Ok, If I were a temple, where would I be?" I asked myself. I then began to walk instead of running just so I could track the temple easier, it was hard to run and look around for a temple… especially in a forest. As I reached a small clearing I heard a growl, I turned around and saw five ursa closing in on me.

"I'm trying to look for something stupid Grimm. Ok, fine, I needed the practice anyway" I said summoning Mythrid Truths, which took a few seconds. Making the first move, I ran towards the middle ursa, and with a swift movement, beheaded the ursa with one slash. Though I succeeded in killing it, the one right next to it slashed at me. I turned just in time to see it's claw coming towards my head, but thanks to my aura I was only knocked down. I jumped back quickly and pulled power from my aura to heal myself. The four began to close in on me but I then focused my semblance and launched my sword through one of the Ursa's bodies, immediately killing it. Then I held out my hand and pulled the sword back to me. The three that were left let out huge roars that hurt my ears, I frowned and steeled my nerves. One of the Ursa's barreled at me as the two others began followed right behind the front one. As it neared me I took a knee to the ground and pushed my sword in front of me, the ursa was too late to stop and impaled itself on my sword but the force flung me back into a tree. I groaned and watched the other two Ursa's begin to near me, sensing I was almost in no position to defend myself. As they approached I stood slowly, only to have a sharp pain course through my back, it would take time for my aura to heal that.

"C'mon then, attack!" I yelled getting in a defensive stance, they snorted indicating they were about to attack. I readied myself as best as I could but I didn't like my odds. Suddenly, from nowhere, Zinex fell onto the ground with his boots slamming into the ground in front of me. In his hand appeared to be a black four foot sword, except he was holding it as if it were a rifle of some sorts.

"Hello there." He said in a humorous tone, then with a sound of pure energy, the blade bent slightly and opened up, making the appearance of a gun. A shot of fire flew from the blade, connecting with one of the Ursa's faces knocking it back, then doing the same to the other. He then pressed a button on the hilt of the weapon and it closed the gap between the blades, forming back into a traditional blade.

"Zinex? Where did you come from?" I asked in a weak tone as the Ursa's scratched their faces. He turned and saw a glow in his yellow eyes and a grin on his face.

"The trees man." He said simply then turned back to the Ursa's who had finally regain their eyesight. They roared at him which hurt my ears once again but didn't seem to bother Zinex. He raised his sword then began eyeing the two Ursa's who then ran towards him. He laughed then shot to the side cutting one of the Ursa's head off as the other one continued to barrel towards me which I wasn't ready for. I raised my arms to hopefully lessen the blow but then a large boom went through the clearing, the Ursa was knocked off course and hit a tree. I looked to Zinex who had his left hand extended, what was that boom? We both stared at each other for a second before nodding, this was it. From this day forward, we were partners and we had each other's backs. I reached my hand out towards Mythrid Truths, and it flew into my hand. I then sliced downward on the last Ursa, and it was gone.

"Wow man, the force is strong with you." He said with a laugh but I just looked at him with a confused look, what did that mean?

"Alright now do you know where the temple is?" I asked him and he nodded.

"Yeah saw it as I saw you. Noticed you might need a little help." He shrugged and began leading me towards where he said the temple was. Eventually we reached the temple-like structure and noticed there were many podiums with different chess pieces on each. We both began walking around the structure and glancing at the many different pieces.

"So… which one do we take?" Zinex asked looking at each of the pieces.

"How… about…" I said reaching for one but before I could grab one, I heard more growling behind us with my fox ears. I turned and noticed a horde of grimm coming our way. "Zinex…"

"What?" He asked turned towards where I was looking. In the horde, there were beowolves, lots of ursa, and a deathstalker. As for the two people they were chasing, I had definitely seen both of these two before.

The first was the male monkey faunus who now had both of his weapons out, to which he appeared to have two of. One appeared to be a large, blue bladed spear with a chain around the hilt, and a split in the middle of the blade. I guess it separates into two separate blades that are connected by the chain. His second weapon appeared to be a teal tinted bow with some dust cartridges on it. I guess the spear doesn't have ranged capabilities. He also had these purple bracelets on his forearms, what did those do?

The second person seemed to be an average human, in fact it was the same guy I had bumped into after I had exited the bullhead, His fire red hair and eyes told me that much. As for his weapon, it appeared he had a pair of Boomerangs, both appeared to have straight blades in one end. The other end he was pointing at the grimm; judging by the size of the boomerangs, the other end was firing pistol rounds as they ran. As for his clothing… he was wearing a loose red shirt, black cargo shorts that reaches his knees, the shorts also had a red stripe on it. He also had black leather jacket and was wearing the same pair of boots that looked rather bulky and metallic, what did they do?

"Well this should be fun." Zinex muttered, turning his sword back into its railgun form.

"We have to help" I say grabbing a random chess piece and dashing after them.

"Oh really? I didn't think of that." Zinex said sarcastically as he fired fire energy right into and Ursa's head, causing it to explode. He then put the weapon down and put in another cartridge, though there were even more Grimm.

"I have an idea, guard me while I do what I'm about to do." I said then pulled my hands out as Zinex ran next to me firing another shot of fire dust at another Ursa. I used my psychokinesis on a good amount of stones around the area pulling them up into the air. "Hey you two! Duck!"

"Got it!" The monkey faunus called as they both hit the ground. I yelled as I pushed my semblance to the limit and flung nearly every stone at the grimm, killing many of them. My head immediately began to spin as my knees hit the ground.

"I got you buddy." I heard a voice above me say as some hands grabbed my arm. Suddenly I felt extreme warmth fill my body as my vision cleared and I saw both the monkey faunus and the red haired human next to me on my left. I glanced to my right and saw Zinex's hands on my arm and his eyes closed, what was he doing? I glanced forward as Zinex removed his hands from me and saw a Deathstalker in front of us.

"Aw come on!" I heard the person in the red shirt say. I sighed then stood up, though I felt a bit weak, I felt much better than I had a second ago. What had Zinex done to me? I quickly shook the thoughts out of my head and focused at the task at hand. I noticed this Deathstalker looked much bigger than any I had seen before. I guess this wouldn't be so easy huh?


	5. Chapter 5: Tank

**Zinex's PoV**

I looked up at the huge scorpion, a 'Grimm' as I had been told, that stood in front of us. It's many beedy eyes were focusing on the four of us but it didn't make a single move, as if it were waiting for us to make the first move. I too looked it over, analyzing what the hell this mutated scorpion could do and saw two main weapons it had. The first of these weapons was its huge black tail with a yellow tip about the size of any one of us, the second were its large claws which looked just as large and dangerous as its tail. I looked around at the two other that had joined both me and Aura.

"So who are you two?" I asked them, turning my eyes back upon the scorpion, just in case it decided to attack.

"I'm Yato." The guy with the monkey tail said. He seemed fairly confident in his abilities, and I surely hoped he was because we were going to need all the help we could get to kill this Grimm.

"Cypher." The guy with the red hair and eyes grunted, it was honestly nice to see another elemental after all this time. How did I know, the red hair and eyes basically told me all I needed to know. He seemed to be just like every other fire elemental I had ever met...angry and serious all the time, he might be a loose cannon. Hopefully he had the skill to make up for his probably headstrong attitude. After a few seconds though, the Grimm decided it was the perfect time to attack and launched its tail at me with lightning speed...luckily I was used to lightning speed.

"Nope!" I grunted as I smashed the tail away with as much force as I could muster. While i was successful in knocking the tail back, the force of the tail itself knocked me on the ground.

"Zinex are you-" Aura started to say, looking at me. However as he took a glance at me to make sure I was okay, the scorpion launched its tail at Aura without warning and luckily Yato was paying attention. He turned his blades back into a single weapon and ran right in front of Aura and drew his fist back. When he launched it forward, both the Grimm's tail and Yato's fist collided causing a literal explosion that sent both Yato and the tail flying in opposite directions. The monsters tail went flying back, pulling it farther back away from the group whereas Yato smashed right into Aura knocking them both to the ground. Cypher decided to take this opportunity to do something productive.

"C'mon ya big beast!" Cypher yelled as he pointed his boomerang weapons up at the creature and began to fire at the beast with its pistol setting, but the bullets seemed to merely bounce off the creature and piss it off more. It roared at Cypher giving me the perfect distraction I need. I pressed the button on the very top of the hilt of my new black sword that an old man had made me. The middle of the blade opened up, parting both sides of the blade a good 6 inches, then a trigger popped out just below the rainguard of the sword. I held one of these rain guards and lined up the one on the opposite side with the face of the creature and pulled the trigger. A large bolt of fire rushed towards the scorpion and smashed into its face, blinding it momentarily.

"Cypher! Back up!" I called as the creature snapped around maniacally nearly killing Cypher three times, had it not been for his reaction time. He growled in annoyance and jumped back, throwing a boomerang at one of its eyes, taking it out, then the boomerang returned to him. I fired another shot at the scorpion but it had learned and held up one of its claws, which blocked the bolt like a shield, sending it carting off towards me.

"Shit." I muttered as if barreled towards me, I was about to dodge it when it literally stopped midair. I looked at it confused and saw Cypher holding his hand out. Well guess the fire awakened? Grimm wars?

"I got yah." Cypher said and I noticed he slowly started sweating then flung the bolt back at the creature, which he lifted above the shield, and right into his face again. Finally, I thought, we were getting the upper hand… that is until I remembered the creature had a tail too. The tail shot towards me faster than I could realize I was in the way, but luckily Yato again saw it before it's target did and ran in front of me.

"I got it!" Yato said but suddenly the tail stopped before Yato's fist could hit it, the it shot behind him and ripped him up by the shirt. "I don't got it! I don't got it!"

"Oh great." I heard Aura mumble as he ran next to me. I glanced at him as I saw him analyzing the situation, just as I was. Cypher was running at the beast yelling terrible insults while he fired bullets of varying elements as Yato yelled at all of us to actually do something… He had a point. Aura turned to me quickly, already having a plan ready. "Can you do something extremely dramatic like when you helped me out earlier, I have an idea."

"That I can do." I said as I bolted towards the from of the creature where Cypher was. He dodged a smashing strike from the claws of the beast, until I shoved him back.

"Hey!" Cypher said as he stumbled back, seeing where he was standing was now where the monster claw was. I let my sword guard drop then lifted my left hand up into the sky… luckily it was a little cloudy today.

"So I heard you don't like light?" I said laughing as a lightning bolt dropped out of the sky, and with me not defending the sound and the flash it created definitely caught the attention of the creature. It hissed at me and stumbled back a little, dropping Yato next to Aura, then it launched a claw in my general direction but missed since the flashed hadn't wore off. I changed my sword back to a sort of railgun then inserted a little lightning Dust then pointed it at the Grimm. "Oh then I bet you really hate me."

"RAWR!" It boomed at me, its mouth opening wide.

"Now Yato!" I heard Aura yell from the other side of the beast. Yato punched the ground which launched him above the creature. He landed right in front of the beast as it roared and then did the most unexpected thing I had ever seen, he ran right into the beast's mouth. I lowered my gun in pure surprise and the beast closed its mouth, seemingly just as confused as I had been.

"Yato should handle it from here." Aura said as he landed next to me with his tails, ah that brought back memories… if only he knew.

"What do you mean, he just got eaten!" Cypher said with a slightly deep voice, yet I could hear the actual fear in his voice.

"Just watch, that Deathstalker is going to have some bad indigestion." Aura explained with a snicker as I noticed the 'Deathstalker' really not having a good time. It roared again but this time it was not a roar of anger but rather a roar of pain.

"Are you telling me that Yato is…." I let my voice trail off as I heard little explosions coming from within the monster.

"Yep." Aura said as he pulled his holographic phone out and turned the camera on, pointing it at the Grimm as it began to jerk left and right. "And your telling me your semblance is lightning?"

"Yep, And Yato did this willingly?" I asked with a laugh as I saw a little explosion pop out of the Grimm's skin. The Deathstalker once again roared in pain, now scraping at its stomach, trying to get Yato out of it to no avail.

"Willingly? No." Aura said with a snicker and his eyes turning yellow as the creature finally shook for the last time and collapsed, turning into nothingness. Yato did not looked happy as the Deathstalker dematerialized around him, his clothes still wet with whatever that thing was made out of. Slowly, but surely, he walked closer to us, as even the wetness began to disappear. Aura quickly put away his holographic phone before Yato could see it, I had a feeling he was definitely going to use that for later.

"Not. A. Word." Yato said in an annoyed tone, looking at each and everyone of us. Aura scanned the area around them and noticed there were no more Grimm on the premises.

"Alright we got one of the pieces, so I say we go back." Aura suggested as he held out a small white pawn he had grabbed from the set of artifacts. I saw how well crafted they were, someone obviously put time into making these.

"Then so we go." I said grinning, and putting my sword away. The sword collapsed into a small canister, the others did similar things which they turned into other things, I noticed retracting weapons were definitely a fad in this place. I set the canister in one of my trench coat's inner pockets as we began to walking to the end of the valley where we assumed Ozpin and Glynda were waiting.

"What do you think happened to the other teams that were there." Aura wondered aloud to us. I remember the other two groups of people that had been near us at the artifact place. One of them particularly had caught my attention.

"You know that red clothed girl?" Cypher asked quickly, with Aura nodding.

"Yes she said her name was Ruby, I think she's kind of young to be here. Kind of impressive." Aura explained to us, obviously a little lost in thought. "I bet my tails that she'll be a leader."

"And that Yang…" Yato said, obviously showing attraction to her.

"Whose Yang?" Both Cypher and I asked at the exact same time, how funny.

Aura opened his mouth to answer. "Tall, Blond Hair, Lilac Eyes, and large… 'assets.'"

"Specifically those assets." Yato grinned mischievously, I thought back to the orientation and did in fact remember the girl they were talking about. I had seen her on the bullhead along with the Ruby girl they had been talking about.

"Oh yes." Cypher agreed with a large grin as well, it made sense why Yato and Cypher would be partners.

"Eh, not my type." I said with a shrug and both Yato and Cypher spun to me with an utter look of confusion on their faces.

"You say what now?" Yato asked quickly and I laughed, Aura did too.

"I agree with Zinex on that one." Aura spoke, siding with me.

"But the assets." Yato said, putting emphasis on the last word.

"ANYway. What about the Schnee?" Cypher asked and both Yato and Aura immediately got dark frowns on their face.

"I cannot stand that family." Aura said simply this time with his eyes turning red, speaking for both of them I assume. What could a some family do to affect both of them? That was worth investigating. We didn't say much more, due to the fact that Aura and Yato's moods were completely killed, as we walked towards our destination, towards our future. I looked around the beautiful forest as we walked and smelled the wonderful scents, the peacefulness of this place surely was breathtaking, even if it did have mutated monsters of darkness. The rest of our time went by quickly, even for me, and it wasn't long before we were in the hall with the other students, with the green haired Ozpin standing without an expression on his face.

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Ozpin stated as the four student went up to the stage, they all seemed like a bunch of rich clowns with all their fancy, flashy armor and their expressions. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!"

The crowd burst into applause, obviously showing the popularity of these people, great there always had to be those people… After Team CRDL walked off the stage, the four fighters that we had glimpsed earlier, walked up on the stage.

"Hey look it's the guy who threw up on the ship." I heard someone around me in the crowd say, followed by laughter.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR. Lead by...Jaune Arc." Ozpin said followed by seriously confused, but respectful applause. The guy known as Jaune seemed extremely confused along with the rest of the crowd.

"Are you ready?" Aura asked quickly, he seemed rather nervous about this whole thing. Cypher, as it seemed to be the usual, kept his arms crossed and had a serious look on his face. He honestly seemed like he would be terribly boring in a party, couldn't even imagine him being a public speaker. Yato, however, was definitely not even paying attention to the ceremony and was sneaking looks behind us for some reason I couldn't identify and I was too busy watching the ceremony to further try to figure it out. I watched as the newly formed Team JNPR left the stage.

"Aura Sharp. Zinex Zeno. Yato Umi. Cypher Ignis." Ozpin said looking towards us as we walked towards the stage, greeted by Ozpin who looked upon all of us. He had this sparkle in his eyes as he looked at the four of us. "The four of you retrieved the white pawn piece. From this day forward you will be known as Team AYZC. Lead of course by Aura Sharp."

"Wait what?" Aura said with nearly the same expression as that Jaune Arc had, I however knew that was coming. Neither Yato nor Cypher seemed to have the ability to lead a team, they were more of the ones to take orders and frankly cause chaos. Not to mention Aura had been the one to come up with the plan to kill the Deathstalker, had to give the guy credit where credit was due.

"Good job." Yato laughed as we walked off the stage, towards where the other teams were standing. I didn't really pay attention to them, I was more focus on the next upcoming team.

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." The four that we had been talking about on the way to this place. The honestly looked like the perfect team, not that Yato and Cypher were focused on their abilities as fighters… then again I really wasn't either but I had a feeling we were looking at different things.

"That Yang." I heard Yato whisper to himself as he stared at the blonde haired girl. She seemed extremely happy and confident, as did the rest of their team.

"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!" Ozpin said, and immediately I saw Weiss, the girl who looked closer to ice than human, look pissed.

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang yelled and went to hug the girl with the red and black attire named Ruby, who seemed nearly as surprised as Aura had. They all walked down the stage and stood near us, which meant Yato was acting extremely manly.

"Of course I'm the tank of the team, I was the one who took out the Deathstalker." He said extremely randomly, as if that was what we were talking about beforehand. Aura glanced at me and we knew we had a similar idea.

"Hey remember when he literally got himself eaten by a deathstalker?" I asked Aura loudly and Yato spun on us, a glare in his eyes. Aura laughed.

"Yes and one: he had to punch his way out, and two: he got all that Grimm ooze on him." Aura said with a smile which made Yato even angrier.

"Shut Up!" He said quickly and loudly, which only made us laugh harder. I glanced over at Cypher, who literally gave not a care to what we were talking about. Then I turned my gaze to Team RWBY, who probably neither heard nor cared about our stupid little games. Suddenly as I gazed at Team RWBY, bad memories flew into my mind killing my mood completely.

"You can't do it." I heard a woman's voice whisper but I ignored it, instead looking back up to Ozpin.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year." Ozpin said to the crowd as they cheered and laughed. Ozpin surely didn't know what would come to happen, especially since I was here. Things always seemed to go south everywhere I went, or maybe I always went south to where the bad stuff is. I quickly made a promise to myself, no matter what I would learn how to be good...how to be the hero I never could be. This place could teach me that, this place could show me that, these people could make examples of that. No harm would befall anyone by my hand anymore, I would let what happened last time to happen again. No more tragic love story would happen, not again...whatever that meant.

"Hey Zinex you okay? You're staring." Aura asked, noticing my expression to which I quickly shook off.

"Yeah I'm fine, why do you ask?" I asked quickly, looking towards Aura.

" You were staring at Blake, guess Yato isn't the only one looking." Aura said with a laugh, a sly look entering his eyes.

"Hey!" Yato protested.

"I wasn't-" I too protested but was cut off by Aura.

"Sure you weren't." He said as Yato smacked him upside the head.

"That's what happens when you say stupid shit like that." Yato said as Aura rubbed his head.

"Still not taking it back." Aura said, the grin not leaving his face.

"You all have a busy day tomorrow, I advise you all to get some rest. Classes begin tomorrow, make sure to bring your proud intelligence and your fighting spirit. You'll need it." Ozpin said, cuing us all to exit to our new dorms.


	6. Chapter 6: Backstories Commence

**Location: Beacon Dormitories**

 **Aura's PoV**

"Whew, what a day!" Yato said as he, Zinex, Cypher, and I walked through the dormitory hallways.

"You can say that again" I said tiredly as I lead us to our dorm room. Today really was an extreme day First, we literally get launched off to our initiation, we took down a deathstalker together, and all put on the same team, with me as leader. Not bad for our first day if I do say so myself.

Right now we were walking through one of Beacon's dorms trying to find our room. I'm not going to lie, this place is big! It took us a good fifteen minutes just to find the right building, now it's taking us another thirty just to find the right room.

"Hmmm… is this it?" Cypher asks as he points to the next door in the hallway.

"Let's see…" I say as I try the lock with the hand my scroll is in. The lock starts out stiff, but a second later a quiet *beep* sound rings and the lock disengages allowing me to open the door.

"Yeah, and it only took 257 tries!" Yato bragged then looked at us with a sort of superior expression. "Just leave it to the tank of the team."

The dorm itself was fairly sized red carpeted room. Four bed, a desk, a bookshelf on the floor and the wall to the right of the door, two nightstands and two windows with red curtains.

"Nice place" Zinex said kind of blandly walking around the room, his lightning yellow eyes scanning the room. He then walked over to a bed that he spotted and looked at the others. "I'd say it's time to sleep, after the tank of the team's failure to work a door."

"Shut up!" Yato said quickly, which received a laugh from Zinex.

"Hold up, wait a minute" I said suddenly getting each of their attention.

"What?" Yato said slightly irritated due to the long day we had.

"If we're going to live here for four years, let's reorganize a little?" I said putting my stuff down.

They each looked at each other, unsure on what to do next.

 **Timeskip: 15 Minutes Later**

"Ok, let's move it over to the corner" I said as Cypher and I moved a bed. Right now, the four of us were reorganizing the room to a more pleasurable style. Though Cypher and I were really into it, it seemed Zinex and Yato weren't really into it.

Cypher and I were moving one of the four beds already in the room, while Zinex and Yato were moving a desk that was also in the room.

We had changed into our sleepwear before we started, except for Zinex who decided to stay in his combat clothing, for some odd reason. Anyways, I was in my yukata, Yato was in a black silk shirt and black silk pants, and Cypher was wearing a plain white tee-shirt and red shorts.

It seemed like organizing the room would be easy. Until…

"Ok" Cypher said as he turned the bed so it would be flat against the wall.

"What are you doing?" I said turning it back so it wasn't flat against the wall but rather just away from it.

"Putting it in the corner, like you said" he said trying to put it back against the wall.

"No put it like this" I said reorienting the bed again.

"Why? It makes more sense to have it against the wall, so we can have more space" he said sounding a little frustrated.

"Yes, however, there is more than enough room as is. And the way I want it makes it so that we have room to stretch, so let's have it like this" I said moving it back roughly.

"No, like this" he said, moving it back his way.

"Like this!" I shouted

"Like this!" He shouted

"Lik-"

"Can you two shut up!?" Yato yelled startling us both. We both look towards him to see Zinex and him were standing there watching us. In fact, they had already organized the room in a way that I noticed looked really good. "It's late and no one wants to hear that, so can you two just decide?"

"We would, if hot-head here would stop being stubborn" I said annoyed. Cypher shot a glare at me.

"And if the Inari here would stop being an idiot and listen to me!" Cypher basically yelled at me.

"Matchstick" I snapped back.

"Dirty tails"

"Cushy Child"

"Wolf Food"

"Oh yeah well you're basically copying Zinex's look" I said smugly.

"Oh yeah we'll you don't even have a look" he said just as smugly.

"Why you little-"

 **Timeskip: 15 Minutes Later**

Well… that could have turned out better. Cypher and I's argument had continued for another five minutes or so before Zinex and Yato separated us and put the beds the way I wanted, saying that I was the leader and my logic made sense, or at least made it seem that way… And after all was said and done, the room looked great.

The beds were in each corner of the room facing outward towards the middle. I had the bed on the left side of the room closest to the window and Cypher had the one across from me, so we can avoid an argument; while Zinex and Yato had theirs close to the door, Zinex on the left and Yato on the right.

The floor bookshelf, which was rather void of books, was against the wall in the middle of the windows, and the desk was on the right side of the room between Cypher's and Yato's bed. It was perfect.

"Ah, just right" Yato said in satisfaction at the state of the room. He then walked over to his bed and jumped into it. "Welp, now let's head to bed"

"Hold up, wait a minute" I said much to Yato's dismay, he groaned then sat back up and gave me a look of pure irritation.

"Ugh! What now!?" He said angrily.

"There's one more thing we need to do before we can actually head to sleep." I said which received yet another groan from Yato.

"And that would be?" Cypher asked confused, I now had the whole group's attention except for Zinex who seemed to be playing with a ring on his finger… he better be paying attention.

"We should tell each other our backstories" I said placing my hands behind my head. "Again, we're going to be here for the next four years. And since we're a team, we should know more about each other"

"Seems legit" Zinex said agreeing with me, looking up from the ring he had been playing with. "Well, Simon let's start with you. Why are you here in Beacon?"

"Simon? Well, the reason I even got the chance was because I protected Miss Goodwitch from some… unsavoury people" I explained remembering the night in question. "However, the reason I'm here is completely different story."

"What do you mean?" Yato asked, his irritation fading being replaced with a more inquisitive tone. I took a breath before continuing.

"Well… I'm not originally from Vale I'm actually from Atlus" I said closing my eyes reminiscing on that fateful day two years ago.

 **Flashback: 2 Years ago**

 **Location : Atlus**

It was a cold saturday morning in the city of Atlus, the snow layed white all around, the hustle and bustle of the people all around, the sound of technology everywhere. It was a place I could call home, and then some. I was walking around with my six other siblings, hoping to buy some groceries and some more clothing for my eldest sister.

"Come on guys, we have to hurry before they run out of designer scarves again." My eldest sister Serenity complained.

"Don't forget that we also need food too" My eldest brother Marx complained.

"That too" Serenity said blushing slightly. While she is my sister, she has been motherly to me and the others, and I loved her for it, but she was highly obsessed with clothing. One time, when we were getting ready to head out, she stopped me, dragged me back to my room and made me put on something that looked good. But it didn't stop there, when we got back, she dragged me to her room and made me learn about all types of clothing there were and what looked good. I can never forget the look on her face if I named a bad combination, or if I wanted to quit. Oh, the furniture broken during those days.

My brother Marx however, wasn't so crazy. In fact, he was not only the most serious and strict out of all of us, he was also relaxed and caring. We were abandoned by our parents, who I had never met for some reason, and so he had to step up and be the adult of the family along with Serenity. Whenever one of us did something wrong, he would scold us; however, whenever one of us were upset, he would be there to make us to feel better. He was a great father figure.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want another fiasco like las-" I tried to say.

"I said I was sorry." Serenity said defensively. "Besides, that lady knew I was going for that dress, she was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Tell that to her spine" I said turning my eyes yellow. I then felt a tug on my sleeve, I looked down and saw my little sister Nexus pulling on my sleeve.

Nexus, otherwise known as Nina, was the most innocent person out of all of us. She would always give each of us a hug whenever she saw us in the morning, after coming home from school, or even before bed. She picked flowers for us, helped with cooking when she could, and even made a cute drawing of the seven of us together. However, because she was so innocent, she was also the most fragile. Whenever she would get hurt or upset, she would just cry until someone comforted her. But we still love her and will be there for her.

"Um, big brother?" She said shyly.

"Yes Nina?" I asked using her nickname. "What is it?"

"Can I have a ride on your back?" She asked blushing heavily.

"Of course you can sis" I said stopping for a second to crouch down. I waited a second before I felt her arms wrap around my neck and her legs wrap around my stomach. Knowing that was her, I stood up and quickly caught up with the others.

"Oh come on Aura!" an irritated voice to my left said. I turned towards the voice and faced my similar aged sister Alice. "If you keep on babying her, she's going to stay that way"

"You're just jealous that I won't carry you" I smugly said back with yellow eyes.

"As if ya donk" she said crossing her arms.

Ok, when it comes to Alice, she… she… she is a piece of work. She was a serious person, strangers would look at her then look right away because she always had this intense look, but only we knew of her silly side. And when it comes to me… it seemed like she hates me, and I don't know why. We would constantly get into arguments all the time, whether it would be for concrete reasons or not, it's freaking irritating. But that doesn't mean we don't have our moments. Whenever one of us were upset, we would be there to comfort the other, like good siblings. And we do periodically get along, it's just not common.

"Hey, if he wants to carry her, let him carry her" my brother Jaxson said.

Now, when it came to Jaxson, he was the best partner I could ask for. Whenever either of us had a plan, the other would help if need be. Whether it would be for dinner, a present for any of the siblings, or even a prank either of us wanted to pull, we would have each other's back. And when I say we would take a punch for each other, I mean we would take that punch.

"Thank you my partner in crime" I said holding out a hand for a high five.

"Right back at ya, my fellow ne'er-do-well" he said returning the high five.

"And afterwards…" another familiar voice said. I look to my right and see my little brother, and final sibling Isa. "Maybe we can head to the weapon store?"

"We'll see Isa, we'll see" Serenity said calmly.

When it came to Isa, he was the most fight-centric out of all of us. Whenever he could, he would be training by himself or with one of us, or out fighting grimm. He also wasn't sure what weapon he wanted to wield, so he would try to use any weapon he could get his hands on until he found what he was looking for. He's a complete and utter weapon head.

"Let's just get this over with already" Alice said stuffing her hands in her pockets.

This was going to be a loooong day.

 **Back to Present time**

"And then at-" I started to say, but stopped when I heard and smelled something. I opened my eyes to see Zinex, Cypher and Yato around a makeshift campfire. "What is-"

"Campfire" Zinex said interrupting me.

"But-" I said trying to make a sentence.

"Camp. Fire." Zinex said holding up his finger, a surprisingly serious look on his face. I looked over to Cypher who just looked at me and shrugged. I guess this was happening.

"Ok then…" I said taking in the weirdness before me. "Anyway, then…"

 **Flashback**

 **3:00 pm**

"Well, this turned out better than expected" Alice said with a genuinely surprised expression.

"Yes, yes it did" I said feeling the same. It honestly did turn out really well. Not only did we get about… two weeks of groceries, compared to our usual nine days of groceries, we were able to find some clothing as well as a weapon mod for Isa. Everything turned out ok, or so it seemed…

"Yes! I finally was able to find a matching pair of pumps for my dress!" Serenity said happily for her dress success.

"And I was able to find the scope I needed, Yes!" Liem said with the same amount of happiness.

"Let's just head back first, it's almost time for dinner" Marx said in his calm demeanor.

"I want spaghetti for dinner" Jaxson said making a suggestion.

"Me too…" I happily sung out agreeing with him. Once again, I felt a tug on my sleeve, and once again it was Nexus tugging it. She was looking at me with a slight blush on her face. "Yes Nina?" I asked looking at her kindly.

She didn't say anything, but she did reach into her pocket and pull two objects out. They were her favorite pair of black glossy bracelets that she received from mom before she disappeared.

"I want you to have these" she said shyly.

"Are you sure?" I asked cautiously. "I mean, mom and dad left those for you, and I'm not sure if I-"

"I'm sure" she said interrupting me. I stared in slight disbelief as she put both bracelets on my wrists. "I want you to have something important of mine. So that way I'm always with you." She said smiling brightly up at me.

I was awestruck that she actually wanted me to have these. But I smiled back at the kindness she was showing me.

We continued walking until we all heard some sort of skirmish. Investigating, we followed the sound to an alleyway where a faunus woman being harassed by a group of humans.

"Last chance lady, hand over the purse and no one gets hurt" one human said pointing a gun at the faunus. The faunus lady, who was a wolf faunus, was clutching her purse, shaking in fear.

Normally, Marx would have stepped forward and stop this, but instead I was the brave one who decided to play hero.

"Hey" I yelled getting their attention. The robbers and the lady turned to look at me, however the lady ran off when she saw her attackers were distracted. The one with the gun heard her run off, turned back just to see she wasn't there, and then turned back to me.

"Damn it you stupid kid" he yelled at me. "You couldn't help but play hero could you?"

"Not if you're bullying another faunus!" I yelled back showing no fear.

"You mean another freak, they serve no purpose; and if anything, I'd be doing Remnant a favor" he said boastfully.

"The only freak here is you, you ignorant buffoon!" I yelled back getting madder.

"Ok that does it!" He said fed up with my rambling. "Boys…"

He and his accomplices all took aim at me and my family, with the intent to kill. "Ready, aim, fire!" He yelled as they all unloaded rounds towards us. I closed my eyes and put my hands forward expecting the bullets to hit us. And It would have been the end for us…

Then I heard a collective "What the?" from everyone in the alley. I slowly opened my eyes to see the bullets they all fired in the air, glowing a faint cyan color. Not only that, but I was also glowing a faint cyan color too. I couldn't help but go as well, for I was just as confused as everyone was. "What the…"

"Just get them" I heard the assailant say suddenly. Surprised by his sudden outburst, I brought my hands down, which launched the bullets that were fired at us, back at them leaving them dazed, but not for long. I knew this was the time to make our escape.

"Run" I said back to my family noticing that they were all starting to get back up, obviously dazed by my sudden semblance surface...at least I thought it was a semblance.

In the background, I heard someone shout "after them", knowing the voices belonged to the ones who tried to attack the lady and us.

"Split up" Alice yelled to all of us, she tried not to show it but fear indeed filled her voice. We all listened and went in various directions, and I quickly lost track of any of my family… I hope they made it out okay. I went to the busiest part of Atlus I knew hoping to lose them; however, I didn't.

"They're over here" I heard one of the voices hear. I look over my shoulder to see the whole group still chasing me. Getting tired of it, I decided to go to an even busier part of Atlus: the port. With the amount of people coming and going, it would be easy to be lost in the crowd. I quickly pushed into the port area, pure panic pushing through my body as I smacked up against a lot of people. A lot of them glared at me, some mumbled some obscene words but I ignored them, I needed to get away.

It may have taken me a good ten minutes, but I was able to lose them. I had managed to slip into a Bullhead without them noticing and lost them.

"Whew" I said in exhaustion. Taking a moment to gather what had happened, I thought back to what happened in the alleyway. What was that? Was that my… semblance?

"Aura" I heard a voice ring out. I looked out the Bullhead and saw my family calling my name and looking around for me. Nexus saw me and got everyone's attention, they started to run towards me. I was about to walk out the Bullhead until the doors slammed shut, keeping me from leaving, and keeping them from coming in.

"Aura!" I heard the muffled voice of Nexus, shout through the hard steel of the Bullhead. Anguish filled her eyes as she realized what was about to happen. Then I heard the engine start, signaling that the Bullhead was going to take off.

"No! Stop the ship! Please!" I begged as I looked at Nexus's face, I could lose them. I started banging on the door, begging for someone to open the door. I tried using my semblance again, but nothing happened. I yelled as loud as I could… but my cries were apparently unheard as the ship started to gain altitude and leave port. I stared down at the port, and I saw my family gathering at the very edge of the port. They all had the same look on their faces… loss, I admit I felt the same way. The ride was long, and uncomfortable but after some time I found out the ship was heading towards Vale, the closest city to Atlus.

 **Back to the Present again**

"It's ok I said, I can catch a ride back I said, but no, that didn't happen. Instead, I had to buy a ticket back; and because I didn't have any Linen on me, I was stuck here." I finished wiping a stray tear away.

Everyone at this point was staring at me. Cypher was staring me with wide eyes and his arms crossed, Yato had his mouth agape, and Zinex was looking at the me with this look that I couldn't quite explain, though I did noticed his eyes were less bright than they normally were. All I know was they were all sympathising with me.

"So how did you live your life?" Cypher said breaking the ever looming silence.

"Well, within a few days of being in Vale I had found a functioning abandoned house, so I found a place to stay" I started. "Then I found a soup store that was recently hiring so I had a job. And when I didn't have enough to buy food, I would go find some myself. So it was all good."

"And look at ya now" Yato started, patting me on the back. "You lived two years by yourself, made it to Beacon and became leader of your own team, so kudos."

"Yeah… thanks" I said taking a seat around the fire. "You know, normally we wouldn't be able to have this in here, but screw it. Someone pass me a marshmallow and a stick" I said with gusto, "We are going to have fun tonight!"

Without saying a word Zinex produced a marshmallow from one of his coats inner pockets and a stick, and handed both to me. If this is how I start the year, then things were going to be interesting though I couldn't shake the feeling other things were going on… darker things.


	7. Chapter 7: Continuum

**Location: Beacon Dormitory**

 **Yato POV**

"What about you Yato?" Aura asked me as we finished eating our marshmallows Zinex had seemingly pulled out of nowhere.

"Yeah Yato, what's your story surely the tank of the team has a great story." Cypher laughed, obviously joking.

"Probably a story about how he was chilling in the belly of another Grimm" Zinex said smugly as he munched on a marshmallow.

"Shut Up!" I said quickly, and they all got quiet. I took a deep breath then I started my story. "Hm, well it all started a month ago"

 **Flashback: A Month earlier**

I sat up on the building's roof, not too high off the ground but enough to be out of sight from those walking on the ground level. I looked on the ground in front of me and saw the two weapons that were given to me recently. I looked at the blue sword that was able to split apart into two blades connected by a sword came from the men side of the family, it was originally forged by some metal they could conjure up at the time. Since it was made in a rush since it was a mid-war times they couldn't make it a broadsword and instead made it two separate swords; but when the hero who wielded the sword was about to win the enemies said something and the hero took it as their final words, but in reality it was a curse for who ever wielding the sword will suffer an unbelievable fate… whatever that meant.

I then looked over to the green bow that was folded up into a small shield which made it easier to carry. The bow was made years later after the sword by women,who knew nothing of the sword, created a bow that was the perfect option for that a evil will come. When that day did come the women, like the hero of the war, the villain put a curse before dying, that curse was that anyone using the bow will feel the pain of those before them.

I looked towards the arriving bullhead from what appeared to be Beacon Academy, those Vale ships had the distinct look of blandness yet were way better than anything Vacuo could pull out. I lifted both of my hands up and both weapons shot into my hands due to the set of purple bracelets that used gravity dust in order to pull and push objects, that was my weapon...my legacy but it always seemed fate made me used the cursed weapons. I clipped the shield/bow to my belt and then put the sword into a large sheath. After which, I jumped off the building and ran to an area near the station and hit the ground, blending into the shadows of a market.

"Alright, let's have some fun saving student hunters and huntresses." I muttered as I watched laughing humans and faunus disembarking from the station. Most were smart and had other people with them, though I spotted one guy who didn't seem too sure of himself. I gauged he was probably a first year student at Beacon and judging by his non-confident demeanor and lack of a weapon, he was definitely going to be a target. As he turned into a small path that the blonde haired guy probably didn't realize was a convenient alleyway for thieves, and as I predicted five hooded people entered behind him.

"Hey there Scott." One of the guys called as I bolted towards the alleyway silently. I peeked past the building and my vision reached into the alleyway, right towards the human and the five people who I now noticed had White Fang masks on and had surrounded the human.

"Look guys, I- I don't want any t-trouble." The guy named Scott said with a stutter, quickly raising his hands to show he meant no harm, which was funny because it was obvious he had no weapon. What were these White Fang members doing here?

"Oh but you see we do want trouble. For you human scum!" One of them yelled in Scott's face, who endured the spit flying in his face with a scared expression. The group of five then proceeded to pull out regular knives that didn't seem to be anything more than knives, which was pretty weird.

"Please don't…" Scott said in a now distressed tone, the White Fang members just laughed.

" _Please Don't"_ The seeming leader of the the Fang group mocked. "Alright I'm tired of this, kill him."

"Not so fast!" I yelled entering the alleyway before the White Fang group could do any sort of damage to Scott. They all looked at me, and a wild grin rose on my face. "Hello there."

"Yato." The leader of the group in an irritated tone, guess they had heard of me. "You must think you're so tough, beating up criminals but-"

"Well you are criminals, that's why I'm here." I said, not an inch of fear in my body. I wasn't afraid of these stupid people, they made our whole race look bad.

"You chose the wrong side Yato, siding with a human? Your a disgrace to our species." The leader sneered with the other laughing in agreement, pushing the human back further into the alley then facing me, brandishing their weapons.

"I was thinking the same about you." I shot both of my hands up and used the purple bracelets to pull two of their weapons towards me but they decided to hold onto them. That was their mistake. As they reached me, I turned off the bracelets then landed two punches into their heads, causing a small explosion, which immediately depleted their Aura's and knocked them unconscious. I looked back up and immediately saw two of the White Fang members coming up on me and I reluctantly pulled out the sword and separated it into two blades connected by a chain then clocked their knives with both blades. I smashed my foot into the bunny faunus on my right then used the hilt of my right sword to slam the other guys face and knock him back.

"Kill him already!" The leader growled but before they could get back up I punched them in their faces, knocking them out with the explosion of my semblance. The leader glanced at his unconscious peer then grimaced at me. "Alright then little Yato, guess I'll have to spill your blood-"

"So uncivilized." I muttered and quickly pulled out my bow, notched an arrow, and then let it fly into the leaders leg. The leader, who was in fact a wolf faunus, howled in pain and fell to his knees, dropping his weapon to the alley floor. I walked up to him, putting the cursed weapons away quickly.

"You think you won?" The leader asked with a insane laugh and I just rolled my eyes. He looked up and a red burned in his eyes. "Listen kid there's a lot more you don't understand. This is just the beginning and you'll see soon when-"

"Shut up." I said with a growl and punched him in the head, smashing through his already weak aura and knocking him unconscious. I then looked up at the guy named Scott, who didn't look so afraid anymore.

"H-hey, thanks uh… Y-Yato." He said with a questioning stutter. I nodded.

"It's no issue, just next time bring your weapon if you come to Vacuo. There's too much crime here for you not to." I warned him then began to walk away but the guy ran up then in front of me and blocked me.

"H-Hey wait a minute, you can't just leave. I can pay you for saving me, my family-" He started to say with confidence in his words.

"I don't want your money." I said with a finality to my words, then walking around him. I wasn't out here to make money, I was out here to save lives. He didn't take this well though and once again blocked my path.

"Look if you don't want money, at least let me offer you something else." He said and I paused to let him speak. I knew this kid wasn't going to give up until I let him say what he had to say.

"My family has a lot of connections at Beacon Academy and judging by your fighting skills, you got what it takes to be a hunter." He said looking me in the eye, his irises were oddly pure purple. I paused for a moment, I had always wanted to save lives… to protect people. This was my in, my way to get to become a hunter to help people.

"How do we do this?" I asked with an excited tone.

 **Back to Present**

"And so that's how I got here, your tank of the team got here because I saved a kid with connections." I said with a laugh.

"Ugh, can you stop with the tank stuff." Aura complained, but I ignored him. Who was he to judge?

"Noble story bro." Zinex nodded in respect.

"It's the best story of course." I said, immediately getting hit in the head with a single book. "Hey!"

"That's what happens when you brag too much." Aura said put I quickly smacked him in the back of the head.

"And that's what happens when you use your semblance against me. Your lucky I didn't blow your head up." I said, Aura quickly stretched his hand out, which caused his body to glow a light blue, and a shelf from the bookshelf came flying at me. Before I could blink a wall of crackling lightning rose in front of me stopping the bookshelf with a crack. I looked over to see Zinex with a grin on his face, his eyes glowing slightly yellow. "Thanks Z."

"C'mon Zinex, he hit me!" Aura protested but Zinex only laughed, not responding.

"Okay!" Cypher said loudly. "Let me tell you my story."

 **Flashback: 2 weeks ago**

 **Location:Above Lake Matsu**

 **Cypher POV**

"Not the lancers! Why the Lancers!" I yelled, not exactly holding my calm attitude… I hated Lancers. I looked up at the ugly stinging monsters and held my guns up an hit both of the triggers as quickly as I could, but the Lancers were quicker than I anticipated. The group of seven, creating a really annoying buzzing sound, then paused and aimed at me. I quickly holstered my two boomerang guns then pulled my hands up and formed a fireball in my hand. I lobbed it at one of the Lancers and caused it to immediately light on fire and turn into a black Grimm liquid, but that did bode well with the other Lancers. They fired their stingers at me and I held my arms up, preparing my aura but it turned out I didn't need to.

"CHOO, CHOO!" My brother, Train, shouted as he barreled in right in front of me. He slammed through all the projectiles, and one lancer, then slowed to a stop with a wild grin on his face. "C'mon brother, you said you were ready for this. You think you're ready for Shade?"

"I am." I growled in protest as he laughed then jumped up and punched one of the lancers in the face, causing a loud cracking sound. The Lancer's whole body cracked and turned into black dust. He landed then looked to me, seeing what I was going to do.

"Prove it then." Train said and I frowned, I wasn't weak. I raised both of my hands then pushed them together to form a large fireball then shot it at another Lancer and I heard it actually buzz in pain then melt. As I did that though, a stinger flew past my leg, slicing my clothes and a part of my leg.

"Ah." I grunted as I fell to my knee, I pulled out my boomerang guns and fired as many shots as I could in pure anger at two Lancers who were trying to fly above me. I got one of them through the head with my bullets but the other one managed to avoid my shots and buzzed even louder, probably angry I had killed its brethren. Before it could fire its stinger at me, I threw my boomerang at it which hit it like a bullseye. It gave off one more buzz then fell to the ground, turning into dark dust then floating away. I turned towards where Train had been and saw him pull a Lancer out of the air by one of its wings then slam it to the ground, turning it into dust. I looked around and quickly did the math in my head of how many Lancers I had killed. "Ha, Train. I got more of them than you did, guess that makes me better than you."

"By one Cy, plus you would have died had I not saved you." Train said with a sly grin looking around, making sure there were no more Grimm. Train was wearing his normal grey metal bodysuit that he seemed to wear all the time these days, well as far as I knew. It was odd though, Train seemed to be gone a lot more these days always saying he was working on something. I knew he was a hunter but he seemed to be gone even more recently than he ever was.

"Still better than I-" I started to complain, as he hadn't given me any credit. He put his finger up as his scroll began to ring loudly. He pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at the caller, then put it up to his ear.

"Hello? Yeah its me, O-man." He said quickly, who was O-man? A long pause was followed by this set of words as he listened to whoever the caller was. His eyes widened a little during the conversation, obviously a little shaken by what he had just heard. "I'll make my way there now."

"What?" I asked confused. He said he had taken a leave so that he could see me off to Shade Academy which was going to start soon. He hung up the scroll and took a deep breath, he then turned his head to me, his smoke-grey eyes looking into mine.

"Change of plans Cy, you're going to Beacon Academy." He said simply, which caught me completely by surprise.

"Beacon? Why Beacon?" I asked, all my life I had wanted to go to Shade. I had been dreaming of walking through those doors just as Train had years ago. Though he had transferred out to Beacon in his last year…

"Something came up, let's just say something odd happened and I need to go to Vale for a while. Well… two odd things I should say." Train explained, trying his very best to keep whatever had happened away from me.

"Ugh you always do this Train, what happened?" I asked a little irritated but he just sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Cy, I don't want to keep things from you but I have to." Train said pulling out his scroll again and looking something up. "The next ship leaves Vale in about 3 hours. We should get back to the city."

"Wait we are going now?" I asked completely confused. "What about the wait period to get into Beacon? My stuff? My transfer records. Don't we need to-"

"Look Cy, it's all been taken care of. A friend of mine has already worked everything out." He explained as a small transport bullhead landed next to us with a masked driver in it. The back opened up, allowing us to get into the bullhead and Train immediately walked into it with me following closely.

 **Back to Present**

"So your brother Train was keeping something from you?" Aura asked with an eyebrow raised. I nodded my head looking to all of them. I noticed that all of them seemed interested, including Zinex. He had been rather quiet during this whole share time, but now he seemed seriously into my story.

"That's odd… seems weird that he would just move you here, I didn't think you could get in so close to the beginning of the year." Yato said poking the slowly dying fire absentmindedly.

"I did get some kind of clue though. It happened the night we were travelling to Vale when Train thought I was sleeping." I continued.

 **Location: Somewhere near Vale**

"... O-man said there was some sort of disturbance in Mountain Glenn. It was reading we hadn't seen before." I heard my brother Train say as I slowly woke up. My brain automatically told me to keep still and not even open my eyes, I could probably find out what I was looking for.

"Did Oz describe it?" I heard a raspy voice said through what I assumed was a scroll, it sounded extremely familiar but I couldn't identify why.

"Well he wasn't there, but he said a hunter who happened to be there saw a huge flash of yellow light." I heard train explain. Yellow light? "When he went to investigate, he got overrun with Grimm. As if they were protecting something."

"Protecting? Grimm don't protect." The raspy voice spoke again.

"Look like I said before, something odd happened there. The last thing he said he saw before he escaped was black and yellow light flashing through one of the buildings. He said the Grimm wouldn't even go near that place." Train explained.

"You think it has to do with the Maid-" The raspy voice started to say but Train quickly cut him off.

"Shut up black bird. You should know better than to say that on scroll. Maybe you should try sobering up before you say something dumb." Train scolded.

"Last time I checked, I don't take orders from you. What's the other odd thing Oz talked about?" The raspy voice asked a little irritated.

"He said he wouldn't tell me over scroll, I'm heading to Vale now I'll expect to see you there too right?" Train asked quickly.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world Train." The raspy voice said with absolutely no interest at all.

"I have to go wake up Cy, We're nearly at Vale. I'll see you." I heard Train say.

 **Back to present**

"After we got a place in Vale, Train kind of disappeared. He said he would come back before I came here but he didn't. He called me on my scroll though." I told them and the mood in the room had completely changed after that last part of my story. Aura was extremely interest, his eyes yellow and purple… did it mean curiosity? Yato was lost in thought, as if he was trying to put my story together in a way that he knew. Zinex's expression confused me greatly. He had a completely serious look on his face, through his eyes seemed slightly shaken and glossy. His eyes were glowing bright yellow, and it was only then I noticed his irises had literal swirling lightning bolts in them.

"I wonder what the Grimm would protect…" Yato said confused, still trying to put pieces together.

"Well one: it would have to be something pure evil and two: pure darkness." Aura responded, and Zinex still stayed quiet and looked at the ground. He seemed to be thinking extremely hard, his eyes kind of moving quickly but not very much.

"Creatures of Darkness protect things of darkness. So obviously it's something of darkness… chaos." Zinex finally spoke, his voice quiet. He then looked up at all of us. "But obviously something was fighting it. The guy said black and yellow light was flashing."

"If only Train would have just let me go with him, those Grimm wouldn't stop us." I said in a determined voice.

"Yeah especially with the tank of the team on your side." Yato said flexing his small muscles.

"Oh please you're not the tank." Aura sighed a little annoyed but Yato just looked at him mid-flex and paused.

"Did you defeat the Deathstalker?" He asked in a sly voice.

"No but-"

"The that settles it, I'm the tank of the team!" He said in a victory voice, Aura just sighed and gave up.

"Hey Zinex what about your story, how did you get here?" I asked and everyone quieted down. I was seriously waiting for this moment.


	8. Chapter 8: When the Past Returns

**Location: Team AYZC Dorm**

 **Zinex PoV**

"My story?" I asked reluctantly, did they seriously have to ask that question? I didn't want to think about it.

"Yeah, I mean," Aura began to say, looking into my eyes with a sort of curious eyebrow raise. "I've shared mine, Yato's shared his, and so has Cypher. So if anything, it's only fair of you share yours."

"Is that so" I said closing my eyes, memories flashing through my brain even though my consciousness protested.

"Well, yeah…" Yato said agreeing with Aura, of course this had to be the time they agreed. "So spill, fess up".

"Let me think." I responded to Yato then the memories began to vividly begin pouring in.

 **Flashback: One week earlier**

Darkness… that's all I could see. I felt like nothingness, like around me was barren… like I was in a void. Tears ran down my face, memories of what had happened were running through my head...the horrible things I had done.

"Oh stupid Zinex…" An echoed voice that was deep and dark rang through my head. No, I don't want to remember...STOP. Suddenly, through the darkness of my vision, I saw a shadowy figure began to form. His eyes as red as a wilting rose, the irony of this would usually make me laugh… if I hadn't been the victim.

"Don't worry, we can take him." A girl said next to me, whose name I refused to think about. I turned my head to see who it was and saw the long auburn hair of the girl I had been in love with for the longest time. For a moment we held eye contact then her face melted away into smoke but the dark figure remained in front of me, however it began to form into the very girl I loved.

"Oh Zinex, stupid Zinex." A sort of demonic version of her voice said, an evil smile forming on her face, her eyes turning the same shade of red as the shadowy figure. "You really thought I loved you? That anyone loved you? Your selfish Zinex. You won't even call yourself a hero because you know you love to kill."

"Shut up!" I yelled, anger and power rising in my body. I began to notice purple sparks in vision but the anger overpowered my curiousness.

"Did I strike a nerve? How about this? Why don't you go back to Io? Back to the prison built for you. You deserved all those years you got, sacrificing your friends for what you call the greater existence is sick." As her demonic voice said those last few words I saw the bodies of everyone I ever cared about, every friend I ever had, all covered in blood. Most, I couldn't even recognize and that made me even more angry. A laugh rang from the love of my life's throat. "Funny isn't it? All these people who trusted you, relied on you, made you their priority and you didn't save them. You let them die, all for what? Just how sick are are you?"

"Fuck you!" I bellowed throwing lightning out at her, the normal yelled color now a deep, dark purple. I began to almost see in slow motion as the lightning rushed towards the evil version of the women I loved. However, as the lightning began to connect with her, the shadowy figure I had seen earlier rose out of her and she turned back to normal, and the bodies disappeared. The lightning connected with her and flung her back further in the darkness, though it seems we both stayed the same distance away from each other. For a moment nothing happened, and only her smoking body remained, but quickly the scene changed.

I looked down and saw her… She was looking up at me with a pain in her eyes, blood dribbling out of her mouth, and a hand on her sword.

"H-how could… y-you do t-this?" Her weak and broken voice asked, her eyes both in pain and disbelief. Her eyes in hate and anger. For the first time, in a long time, I didn't have a witty comment. For the first time, in a long time, my whole came crashing down. For the first time, in a long time, I let my guard down. Before I could react, my mind plagued with what I had done, she forced, with every last ounce of life, her sword straight through my stomach.

Suddenly, the darkness melted and an abandoned city appeared around me. Though the visions of the girl disappeared, the pain of the sword did not disappear. I looked down at my black shirt, and saw it was drenched in my blood. Then I looked to the actual rip in my shirt and saw the wound beginning to heal but still had yellowish-red blood oozing out.

"Shit." I muttered and quickly ripped off my trench coat and shirt. I tied the shirt together then pushed it against the wound, trying to make sure that I didn't bleed out before my healing factor closed my wounds. I scanned the area, trying to see where I was. As I looked around I saw both a sad, yet familiar sight. I was in a ruined city, buildings left windowless, and peopleless, filled my vision. Broken pieces of concrete too laid everywhere and even some buildings laid on the ground. I saw the sun just barely peeking out over a few buildings and judging by its position, it was probably dusk.

I slowly stood up, even though static filled my vision, I still pressed forward...I had too. I limped down the destroyed street, potholes left and right that made me trip since I couldn't see much but static. I found my focus point, a building that had escaped a lot of whatever destruction that had befallen this city. As I neared the building my vision began to clear but I didn't like what I saw standing in the doorway.

"Murderer!" The auburn haired girl I once called my love yelled in my face. I looked passed her, I couldn't focus on her. I didn't want to think about the worst mistake I had ever made. As I reached the doorway, she disappeared and reappeared inside the buildings barren lobby with blood coming out of her mouth. "I thought you loved me!"

"Go away." I coughed weakly as I once again passed her, but luckily she didn't reappear. As I reached the stairs, I could barely see in the very minimal light. I raised one of my hand and tried to form a ball of lightning but pain shot through my whole body and I fell onto the stairs, weakness filling me. Anger rose in my head as my body wouldn't do what I wanted it to do.

"Just Die!" I heard the women yell maliciously, pushing the darkness further on me. I didn't want to remember her name, her very name would push me further into this hellhole that was my brain.

"No." I said in a determined voice as I stood with a sway in my legs. I walked up the stairs, a burning sensation filling my muscles as they pushed me up a flight of stairs. As I looked up through the dim light I clearly saw her smoking body standing, looking at me. When I made eyes contact, she screamed and it felt like a gust of wind pushed me, causing me to fall down the stairs.

I fell deeper into unconsciousness, fell deeper into the building. I just wanted it all to go away. The pain, the powers, the women...I couldn't bare it anymore.

"That's right! Die!" I heard hundreds of voices yelled simultaneously. I was tempted to follow their advice, to just die. That shadow was right, what was I but a killer? I called myself a savior, but I couldn't even save the ones I cared about. The faces, or the ones I had lost throughout my long existence surrounded me.

"No!" I boomed as a blast of lightning shot them all away. Immediately I was driven unconscious. I was back in the darkness of my own mind, face to face with the same shadow I had seen earlier.

"Stupid false savior." The shadow growled but I was already ready. I shot forward and grabbed the shadow by its throat and slammed it into the black ground and it cracked, letting light rush in. After doing this, it only laughed. "Exactly Zinex, you're not a hero, a savior, if anything you are merely a killer, a plague to be eradicated.

"Maybe I've become that… but no more. I don't want to be this anymore." I said as I let the shadow go and it turned into a pale human with black pupils and black hair with similar clothes as I wore.

"You don't want to be immortal anymore? I thought this was what you wanted?" The dark voice asked, his eyes piercing mine.

"This isn't what I wanted." I said as the dead bodies once again appeared.

"But it's what you asked for. You wanted to exist forever." He said in a curious tone.

"But not like this. I hate what you've made me become." I said looking down at my hands, seeing them covered in blood. I clenched them then looked up at the shadow.

"I didn't make you evil, we did that together. Getting rid of me won't make you good." He said calmly. I paused for a moment.

"The I'll learn." I said then vaulted forward and once again slammed him on the ground, breaking the blackness. The shadow disappeared, and light poured in. As the light blinded me, I finally woke up and saw a bright light. It look my eyes a few seconds to adjust, but once they did, I noticed it had been the sun blinding my eyes. I slowly stood up, giving my body the chance to tell me if anything was wrong. However I felt no pain…. my body had heal in who knows how long. I walked out of the stairway, into the lobby, and saw something I hadn't ever seen before.

 **Back to Reality**

"Um… Zinex?" I heard Aura said, along with the snapping of fingers. I opened my eyes to see them all staring at me. "You were just sitting there in silence for a good few seconds, are you ok?"

"I'm fine just a little tired." I said looking at all of them as they sat back, obviously a little weirded out.

"Well then, how did you get to Beacon?" Yato asked inquisitively.

"Well… I…" I said trying to come up with a story. "When I was 14 , I was completely abandoned. My parents had died because of a random beowolf attack. Because a random pack of beowolves decided to come and attack my home" I began telling my false tale, with just a little truth. Luckily I had learned the art of making up lies on the spot. "And because we lived in a secluded part of the woods away from any cities, any people, any life. I had survived because of my powers, my semblance if you will. After the attack I... went into a random direction and made my journey from there. I went to so many places and somehow survived each one, but I kept on going in the direction I set out. And after a while, I had made to a road that I assumed went to a big city. I finally reached a place but it was a destroyed city, I think it came from that place Cypher talked about."

"Mount Glenn" Aura said matter of factly, I guess the place held some sort of importance.

"Yeah, anyway… I was exploring the city when I ran into more grimm." I said continuing my story, of course my brain decided to hit me with yet another flashback.

 **Back to Flashback**

It was seemingly an animal but had fur the color of pure darkness with white spikes coming from different places on its body with what looked like a pure white mask with red stripes making a sort of face. It had two long fangs, with other sharp teeth near it, and it was looking right at me.

"Grr!" It growled them jumped at me but I sidestepped it and summoned my pure black sword, shoving it up into its stomach. It growled and skid, slamming into the stairwell doorway. I pointed my sword at the creature and blasted it to dust with lightning. I just stared at it for a moment then noticed a map had fluttered onto its ashes. I picked it up and saw a world very different than the one I was used to. There seemed to be five main areas, though one's name and most of the land was so faded i couldn't even see it. As i scanned the map, i saw an area crossed out that seemed to be a city, but its name crossed out. I took this as a clue that i was there and saw i was in a kingdom/country called Vale.

"Vale, huh?" I muttered as I looked up from the map. I knew my destination. A large city somewhat near where I was. I exited the building and make my way out of the city, turning my sword back into a lightning bolt ring on my right ring finger. It took me a long time to exit the city since it was actually huge, not to mention the part of the map where the city was, was so thankfully blotted out. I did however manage to get out and reach a very ill-used road I assumed was once a path to this destroyed city.

I spent a long time walking on the road, about 6 hours judging from the sun. It was a beautiful, yet boring walk but after I had just reached the sixth hour i met a man.

"Hello there kid." An old man about 60-65 years old greeted as we crossed paths on the obviously old road. He had a thick, light grey beard, a smile on his face and blue eyes full of life. He was wearing a brown cloth coat with a hood that covered his grey, balding hair, and had black dress pants with black running shoes. He also had a large backpack on.

"Hey. That way is to… Vale, right?" I asked the man and the smile never left his face.

"Of course, beautiful city. You heading there from Vacuo?" The man asked then laughed, which was good because I had no clue what a Vacuo was… probably should have paid more attention to the map while I was walking. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm-"

"ARC!" A loud screech boomed through the area, piercing both of our ears. I looked up and saw a huge black bird probably as big as a large truck and it surely looked menacing. The huge bird landed quickly and blew a ton of wind at us, knocking us both back and luckily the old man was wearing a backpack because he landed right on his back. I quickly bolted up and towards him but he was already sitting up and digging through his bag.

"I'm not what I used to be, and I don't see a weapon on you. Take this." He said urgently, then pulled out a 5 foot mace with four pieces of metal connected and having sharp edges that looked vicious. He tossed it to me and I caught it with ease. The metal on the top was dense, yet just as light as my sword, and I noticed that even the handle was made out of similar metal but wrapped in some sort of cloth. It was a dark steel-ish color and seemed rather bland but hey, why question it.

"C'mon Zekrom!" I yelled sarcastically to the giant bird who then launched its mouth at me, but I was ready. I used my hands to throw the mace left and smash it into the head of the creature, which threw its whole body sideways and cause it to shake a little. The creature growled at me and with its wing smacked me away, and even with the mace I couldn't block that kind of force as I was shot back towards the old man with a boom. I coughed up some dust and stood back up, definitely feeling a little pain… thanks durability for keeping me alive. As I looked at the creature, I noticed the dent in its skin beginning to head slowly, not to mention the creature didn't even look phased. How the hell was I going to kill a flying bird creature with huge teeth with a single mace that cut about as well as a 10 year old kitchen knife?

"Kid, hit the button above your right hand!" The old man yelled and I glanced down at the mace and saw a button burrowed in the metal and passed it. Immediately the four prongs separated from each other and revealed a hole in the metal, and popping from the side of the mace was a trigger. I pulled the mace up and held it like an assault rifle, oh this was gonna be fun.

"Bye, have a great time." I said with a grin then pulled the trigger and a blast of energy flew out of the mace that I swear looked like ice and it caused the creature to stagger and seemed distracted. I pushed the trigger again and another blast slammed the creature in the face causing ice to form on its face and knocked it back even further. Three more shots later and it was on the ground trapped under a small iceberg. It was slowly melting and I could see water running down its whole body, this gave me the perfect opportunity. I raised my right hand and from one of the cloud I pulled a lightning bolt then slammed it into the creature. With one jolt it died and then turned into nothing but dust. I turned back to the old man and he seemed surprised.

"Kid, you got some real talent… thanks for saving my life there." He said as I handed his weapon back to him. He turned the mace over and clicked a button on the bottom of the mace and it turned into a metal canister that looked like it was filled with water. "What's your name kid?"

"Zinex Zeno." I said looking into his blue eyes as he smiled.

"Well Zinex, I'm Jack, and you seemed to be more of a sword user with that form. How's about I make you a sword like this mace here as a token of my appreciation?" The old man asked putting his backpack back on.

"Yeah that sounds amazing." I said with a grin on my face and he laughed a little.

"Good, I'm sure you wouldn't mind following me. And the way you killed that Nevermore… I'll take you to an old friend of mine." He said then beckoned me to follow him down the road I was already going down. If there was one way to get into this place without problems, this man was my way.

 **Back to Present**

 **Aura's PoV**

"So yeah, that's how it happened." Zinex said as he finished his story. But for some reason, I couldn't help shake the feeling that he left some parts out of it.

"Oh, so that's how you killed that Nevermore" I said in slight awe.

"That's quite impressive for a guy with a mace." Cypher said with a chuckle.

"Yeah… But there's something that I want to ask."Yato began. Oh no, what does he have in mind.

"Yeah, what is it?" Zinex asked crossing his arms crossed.

"Did you have someone who you were interested in before you got here? Someone who you loved besides your parents?" Yato asked with honest curiosity. That was by far one of the stupidest questions he has ever asked. I quickly stretched out my hand, psycho-grabbed five books, and launched them one after another straight at Yato's head. "Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow. Why!? What did I do!?"

"Even I know that's something you don't ask straight out the blue" I responded to his pain, as well as turning my eyes red. "Ugh, can you answer the question Zinex? Because I don't think he'll shut up otherwise."

There was an awkward thirty seconds of silence before Zinex responded. "I don't want to talk about…" was all he said as he stood up, and made his way for the door.

"Hey, Zinex? Where are you… going…" I tried to say as he opened the door and walked straight out the room.

There was a brief silence before Yato clapped his hands together and said, "Well, let's head to bed" cheerfully as he went towards his bed.

"Yeah, we have to go the school so let's finally get some rest" Cypher said following suit into his own bed. They were right, it was late, and we had been awake long enough; so I put out the fire, turned off the lights and got into my own bed and headed to sleep.

 **Timeskip: 1AM The Next Day**

I can't sleep, for the life of me I just can't. I'm not sure what it is, whether it's the fact I'm nervous about tomorrow, the fact I'm the leader of this team, or something else entirely, I'm just nervous. However, I was taken out of my thoughts when I heard the dorm door open. I sat up to see someone open the door, thanks to me being a faunus, I saw Zinex walk into the room and walk completely silently towards his bed, trying not to wake anyone up. I waited a few second after he walked in before saying anything.

"So am I the only one awake, or are we just pretending to be asleep?" I said trying to break the silence.

"Ugh, awake and it sucks!" I heard Yato complain in a tired anguish.

"Same" Cypher said, but seemed untired.

"I'm pretending and having fun." I heard Zinex mumble in a slightly irritated voice.

"So we're all awake…" I said not knowing what to say next. "So are we ready for tomorrow?"

"Yep" Yato and Cypher said rather quickly and confidently.

"Neither of you are, hell how can you be ready for something you don't know about." Zinex said in a calm yet stern voice.

"Yeah…" They both said defeated.

"Well it's good to see that I'm not alone here" I admitted. "Like, are we going to be good students or-"

"Hey, we don't know" Zinex interrupted. "But what I do know is that we're here, and we made it. So let's all get some sleep"

"Yeah, goodnight guys" I said closing my eyes once again to fall asleep.

"Goodnight" they all said getting more comfortable. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

 **Location: Somewhere not far**

 **3rd Person PoV**

"He is at Beacon? Did he make it past the initiation?" A woman's voice asked over a scroll a hooded faunus was wearing.

"Yes, ma'am. The monkey faunus made it to Beacon easily. He is a part of team AYZC. This team might hurt our plans." The male hooded faunus said.

"Do not worry about that, That team was specifically chosen by me. Everything will go according to plan, as long as the others act as they are supposed to." The woman said with a laughable tone.

"You sure Yato-"

"Do not speak his name, we might be overheard by our enemies. It's called Beacon for a reason, they tend to tap communications. Just continue as planned." The women said then hung up the scroll.


	9. Chapter 9: The First Day

**Location: Team AYZC Dorm**

 **Aura's PoV**

"Mmm… agh" I quietly groaned out as I woke up, noticing it was morning. I got out of bed and stretched my arms and legs a bit as I walked to the window to look outside. My fox ears perked up as I looked, It was a beautiful day outside, birds were singing, flowers were blooming, it was so peaceful. But as I looked, I noticed a lack of students in their dorms, and that some were running to class in… uniform? As I put two and two together, my fox ears immediately drop as the realization hit me like a water balloon hits the ground.

I grabbed my scroll and took a look at the time. It was 8:49, and classes started at 9:00, 10 minutes from now. "Guys…" I said nervously, "We have 10 minutes to get to class…" And as if they were told a bomb was hidden the room, they all bolted up from their beds and immediately went to their things.

"Why didn't you tell us!" Yato practically yelled at me as he ran to the bathroom to put on his uniform, slamming the door shut behind him. Though the door was closed, I still heard him complaining.

"I didn't know when any of us would wake up, ok!" I yelled back in panic as I quickly tried to comb my hair and tails. "Next time I'll set an alarm!"

"That's what you should have done in the first place team leader." I heard the muffled voice of Yato come sarcastically from the bathroom.

I looked around and saw that Cypher was putting on his uniform, however, Zinex was not for some reason. "Hey Zinex? How come you're not putting on your uniform?"

"Why would I?" Zinex responded a bit confused as he pushed his wild hair down, guess his semblance messed with his hair too. I really hadn't seen him take it off and seriously wondered when he was going to wash that thing.

"It's mandatory, you have to wear it" I said starting to put on my own uniform, growing up with all my siblings being in my underwear around others didn't really bother me.

A muffled "Yeah!" was heard coming from the bathroom. We all turned and watched Yato come out in Beacon's uniform. The uniform itself was a black suit lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie, he was also wearing his purple bracelets along with the uniform. If Serenity were to see this, she would be happy about it.

"Well what about those!?" Zinex exclaimed pointing at Yato's bracelets.

"Well…" I started as I finished putting on my uniform, "... They are slightly lenient about the dress code. You can wear certain accessories along with your uniform, like…" I continued as I grabbed and put on both my bracelets, "Me and Yato can wear our bracelets, and you can wear your ring there along with the uniform."

"But why would I-" Zinex started to say, seriously getting irritated over a stupid uniform.

"Just put on the freaking uniform so we can go!" Cypher interrupted as he finished putting on his.

"Ugh! Fine hold up" Zinex said in defeat as he went into the bathroom. Not even twenty seconds later, he exited the bathroom in his uniform. The uniform itself fit perfectly, along with the ring and a small handkerchief that had some sort of circle with other symbols around it embroidered onto it. How the hell had he dressed so quickly?

"Ya look shar- crap we have to leave now!" I exclaimed I took a look at my scroll and ran to the door.

"Why?" Yato asked unknowing tone of voice, following anyways.

"It's 8:56, we only have four minutes to get class!" I yelled as I held the door open. There was a pause that lasted for a second before they all ran out the door with me following close behind.

 **Timeskip: 3 Minutes Later**

 **Location: Beacon Hallway**

 **3rd Person PoV**

"How much time is left!?" Yato asked in a panicked voice. All of team AYZC were currently racing through the halls of Beacon to their first class, which was Doctor Oobleck's. Aura was using his tails to propel himself forward, Yato was using his bracelets to pull himself forward, Zinex just plain running with a face that looked almost bored, and Cypher hover-skating through the halls to the class.

"We have thirty seconds left!" Aura yelled back just as panicked. "Where is the class!?"

"It's… it's… It's over there!" Cypher says as he points to an open door. Next to the door, there was a plaque that said "Doctor Oobleck", the class they needed to go to. "Come on!"

"Ten… Nine… Eight..." Aura began to silently say as they ran towards the door; for time was almost up. "... Five… Four… Three… Two…"

They all made it to the door and burst into the room just before the late bell rang, startling everyone.

"One…" Aura barely made out as he was and his team were catching their breath. "We… we made it."

"Yeah…" Yato agreed just as exhausted from running.

"Ah, Team AYZC. Just in time for class" a voice said. They all turned their heads to see who said that. The person appeared to be a rather young man, with messy green hair. His attire also seemed disheveled: he had a white shirt partially tucked into his dark-green pants and its collar raised, showing a slack yellow tie, along with mismatched brown and black shoes. He was also wearing round glasses that appeared to be opaque. "Tell me, why were you all almost late?"

Aura raised a finger in order to try and explained, however, three seconds later, he passed out face first on the ground, much to the classes amusement. Zinex glanced up with a grin on his face and not even a hint of exhaustion on his face.

"Ya know, professor, almost late isn't actually late." Zinex said looking Doctor Oobleck.

"Doctor" Oobleck corrected quickly. Zinex blinked then spoke.

"What?" Zinex asked in confusion, one of his eyebrows raising.

"It's 'Doctor Oobleck'" Oobleck said, "and that is what all of you will call me from here on out, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir" Cypher and Yato responded without a single missed breath, though Zinex chose to keep silent though showing respect to Doctor Oobleck.

"Very good. Now if you could grab your teammate and find some seats, we could get class started" he said in a loud and quick voice. Yato and Cypher went to sit as Zinex picked up Aura and dragged him to their seats, letting his body slouch into the seat. And with that, class officially begun.

 **Timeskip: Middle of The Day**

 **Location: Beacon Cafeteria**

"Ugh, there's still a crick in my neck" Aura complained as he moved his head around trying to get rid of said crick. He and the rest of Team AYZC were walking into Beacon's main cafeteria, which was a large and long room. Students of all kinds were in the tables talking, eating lunch, or just sleeping, which was the very reason Aura was in pain.

"Well that's what happens when you fall asleep in class" Yato said jokingly as Aura grimaced at him.

"Hey, It's not my fault! I was exhausted" Aura said making an excuse.

"Yeah, yeah…" Cypher responded, looking around the cafeteria with a sort of scowl on his face. He was never fond of crowds and being at Beacon wasn't going to change that.

They were walking through the aisles trying to find some seats, when Aura heard a familiar feminine voice come from behind. "Hey," the voice quietly said. Aura turned around and saw Ruby sitting next to what appeared to be her teammates and Team JNPR sitting across from them.

"Oh, Hey Ruby" Aura greeted politely. He turned back around to see his team looking at him questioningly. "Say Ruby, you don't mind if we sit with you all, do you?" He then asked cautiously.

"Nope, come on" Ruby said gesturing them to take a seat. Aura walked over and sat next to Ruby, Zinex sat next to Aura, while Yato hopped over the table and sat next to Jaune, and Cypher sat next to him.

"Hello" Jaune Arc said kindly to the Kitsune.

"Hello" Aura said back just as kind. "Also, hello Yang, Blake and... Weiss" Aura said kindly to the rest of Ruby's teammates, except for Weiss whose name he said with slight venom.

"Hello~" Yang sing-songed.

"Hi" Weiss said with slight ice in her voice.

"Hello" Blake said blandly, obviously not caring at all about them.

There was a good five second pause before someone said anything. "Well this is awkward, so I say we all formally introduce ourselves to each other" a girl with orange hair and turquoise eyes exclaimed.

"Good idea…" Yato said while slowly leaning back from the table slightly.

"Ok, then…" Ruby said before clearing her throat. "Hi, My name is Ruby Rose, and I'm the leader of Team RWBY"

"Doesn't that get confusing?" Cypher asked in a questioning tone, noticing the obvious play on names that was happening.

"Yes, Yes it does" Weiss then said, an obvious salt in her voice. "Well I-"

"We all know who you are" Aura said slightly annoyed. Everyone at the table turned to look at him. He then spoke in a mocking deep voice. "You're Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, Sister of general Winter Schnee, yada yada. Moving on, next!"

"Like the gum?" Zinex questioned quietly but no one else really heard him.

"How dare y-" Weiss shot back, her anger intensifying

"Yeah, next" Yato said agreeing with him. Aura then reached his hand out to him for a high-five, and Yato actually give it. The start of a shaky bromance.

"Why you little-" Weiss started to say, but was then interrupted by Yang.

"Hi, my name is Yang Xiao Long, the older sister of my little sister Ruby and a member Team RWBY" she said cheerfully.

"H-h-hi Yang" Yato let out dreamily as he tried to remain cool but obviously failing. It was luckily however that Yang didn't noticed this idiocy.

"Well, if it's only fair…" Blake began calmly, "My name is Blake Belladonna, and I am a member of team RWBY" she said finally introducing herself.

For some reason to Aura, Blake seemed different. He wasn't completely sure, but he had a solid hunch and it had to do with the bow that was on her head.

"Ok, then there's us" Jaune said starting his team's introductions. "Hi, Name's Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR" he said almost stoically.

"Which is kind of- ow" Yato began before he was hit in the head by a random apple. The thrower was Aura, but no one saw it. "Who threw it!?" Yato asked slightly mad by the fact he was hit by an apple, but no one responded.

"Well friends, my name is Pyrrha Nikos, I am a world renowned fighter, and proud member of team JNPR" said a girl with red hair and vivid green eyes.

"Oh, I thought you looked familiar" both Aura and Yato said together. They both turned to looked at each other after they said that. "Ok, stop that" they both said together again. "Stop it!" There was a three second pause before they began again. "Antidisestablishmentarianism" they both said at the same time once again to throw each other off.

"Good word guys, that's your word of the day." Zinex said with a laugh as both Yato and Aura glared at him, though he didn't seem to mind.

"I'mmmmm Nora Valkyrie! I love pancakes, ya see this giant hammer here? Thats mine. And my sem-" she managed to get out before a hand covered her mouth. The hand belonged to a surprisingly quiet boy with one pink streak in her hair. He seemed rather skinny, though had intense eyes as if he had seen a lot.

"And she's a member of team JNPR" the boy said before removing his hand. Nora looked over at the boy with a questioning look, then shrugged and dug into her pancakes quickly.

"Huh… well she seems like fun, huh Zinex?" Aura asked his partner in a quiet tone as the guy began to introduce himself as Ren. "... Zinex?" Aura turned to look at him and noticed he was off. He was just staring straight ahead with unblinking eyes. Aura then began to notice the glow of his eyes dimming. "Zinex" Aura said this time shaking his partner. Zinex blinked quickly then looked to Aura, obviously a bit shaken and his mood completely different. It was as if something had scared him.

"Is it my turn yet?" Zinex glancing at the table who hadn't noticed his little space out.

"You ok? You seemed… Off for a second there bud" Aura said worried for his friend. Zinex merely cracked a smile, and let out a small laugh.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good bro. Just thinking about going back to class." Zinex said, his eyes darting back to the group. But once again, Aura couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something again.

"And what about you, gonna introduce you and your friends?" Jaune asked Aura. Aura quickly recovered his thoughts then looked towards the other teams.

"Hm? Oh, right" Aura said turning to the other two teams. "My name is Aura Sharp, I'm a Kitsune faunus, and leader of team AYZC. And if any of you want to laugh, go ahead, you have thirty seconds to do so." And as if on cue, Ruby, Yang, and Nora all burst out laughing, while the others stayed quiet.

"It's ironic." Yato muttered, smiling. After about 30 seconds of roasting, laughing, and a random book being thrown across the lunchroom, the conversation continued.

"Wait, you're a faunus?" Both Weiss and Blake asked almost amazed.

"Yes, he is. And he isn't the only one." Yato began gaining the attention of everyone at the table. "Hi, tank of the team, Yato Umi here."

"This again." Aura groaned, facepalming quickly.

"I am obviously the tank of Team AYZC as I was able to take out a whole deathstalker with just these." He said flexing his muscles, though there wasn't very much to flex. The group seemed impressed.

"Yeah, after I told you what to do" Aura said smugly, turning his eyes yellow.

"And literally going into the belly of the beast." Zinex added quickly. Yato turned to them with a glare of pure anger.

"Shut up!" Yato said quickly and defensively.

"Hello, I'm Cypher." Cypher introduced bluntly. The rest of the group waited for him to continue but he merely just stared at the table and played with thumbs.

"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine." Nora said sarcastically, which made the whole group laugh.

"I'm Zinex, got a ray gun sword of death." He said as he pulled out his black sword and it dropped with a clang on the table. "And got the power to scare the living hell out of people."

With that a literal lightning bolt struck the table, doing just what Zinex promised scaring most of the group out of their seats, minus Nora who seemed rather amazed and Blake who still didn't really care… at least she didn't seem to. Zinex then grinned as everyone recovered their wits and seats. "Others call it lightning though."

"Do it again." Nora said clapping, though luckily for the group's hearts, he didn't.

"Ok, with introductions out the way I have one question" Weiss said calmly. Everyone turned to look at her.

"And that would be…" Jaune asked cautiously, afraid of what she was going to say.

"How did a faunus become a leader of a team?" she asked sounding confused, immediately killing the whole mood of the group. That question alone was enough to make Aura's and Yato's blood boil.

"And what's the problem with that?" Aura asked while trying to suppress his anger.

"Yeah, what's the problem with that?" Yato added with his arms crossed as was as a angry expression on his face.

"Nothing, just asking." Weiss said dismissing the topic rather quickly.

"Yeah, I thought so…" Aura said calming down. Just before anyone could say another word, the bell rang, signifying it was time to return to class.

"That's our cue?" Zinex said getting up from the table. Before anyone could follow him, another lightning bolt struck the table, which once again startled the whole group, minus Nora, who laughed, and Blake who just looked at Zinex as he walked away.

"Would you stop doing that!" Weiss yelled in a bratty voice but received only a laugh from Zinex.

"That's never going to get old." Zinex with another laugh then exited the lunchroom, with the rest of Team AYZC following behind him. The rest of the group all took a collective look at each other.

"Well they were interesting." Ruby said with a nervous laugh.

"I guess that Zinex guy started this year off with a bang instead you." Blake muttered with a small laugh watching Team AYZC walk out of the lunchroom.

"I said start it off with a a Yang." Yang said with a goofy grin on her face, yet still no one laughed.

 **Timeskip: Professor Port's Class**

"Monsters! Demons… Prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of grimm have names. But I, merely refer to them as prey." Said the teacher in the room who was known as Professor Port. He appeared to be a man in his early old age. He wore a double-breasted burgundy suit with gold piping and buttons. His pants were also tucked into a pair of olive boots. He also had a confident look on his face as he looked at the students in their class.

He had gray hair and a gray mustache and appeared to be slightly overweight, but he seemed to be and overall good teacher. However, from the perspective of his students, he was awfully boring. Ruby was snoring sound asleep, Jaune was trying not to fall asleep himself, and Yato was phasing in and out between awake and asleep. Zinex and Aura, however, were awake and paying attention; for Zinex it was more about learning what he didn't know about his world, and for Aura it was because of the nap he had taken earlier in the day.

"Uhh, and you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy." He said trying to grasp the attention of his students, to no avail. Though he did notice Zinex's nearly unwavering attention on Professor Port.

"Yeah, hopefully" Yato said in a tired and snarky tone of voice that was quiet enough so that he wouldn't be heard.

"Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is obviously teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces." If the mood in the room wasn't already dead, it would be now. It's not like they already didn't know this information, it was something they had known since they were kids.

"And that's where we come. Huntsman! Huntresses!" he said with a tone that was filled with confidence, trying to show off his skill."Individuals who have sworn to protect those who can't protect themselves." He said continuing his prolonged lecture. "From what you ask? Why… The very world!"

In a row above Team RWBY, AYZC, and JNPR, a "Eyyy-yeah!" was heard. This received a pause that lasted for a few seconds before Port began again.

"That is what you are training to become. But first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome man. Me." He said starting a story of his younger self, not that anyone was listening. Even Zinex immediately disconnected from the conversation.

"And there he goes" Aura whispered quietly to his teammates.

"When will this end!?" Yato groaned quietly, almost in pain from boredom.

"No idea." Zinex said now playing with the lightning bolt ring on his finger.

"Please end this." Aura said putting his head down on the desk in boredom.

"Why? I don't see anything wrong with him." Cypher said confused about Aura's statement, obviously still paying attention.

"He's narcissistic, and I hate that!" Aura groaned in frustration.

"What's wrong with th-" Cypher started to ask.

"And the moral of the story is…" Professor Port said raising his voice, effectively interrupting Cypher. "A huntsman must be honorable, a true huntsman must be dependable, a true huntsman must be strategic… Well-educated… and wise!" Port said listing the characteristics of a huntsman. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Faster than even Zinex, Weiss shot her hand up and said "I do sir!"

"You little bitch…" Zinex, who was surprised at her reaction time, muttered just loud enough so that only his team could hear him. Which caused them all to hold in their laughter.

"Well then, let's find out" Port said gesturing to a large cage that somehow appeared right next to him. Inside the cage was something that practically growled evil. There were piercing red eyes staring out the cage, and the creature was literally growling.

"Now, miss Schnee, if you would be so kind and change and grab you combat gear, we can truly see if you embody these traits." Professor Port said with conviction and with that Weiss left the room in order to change and prepare for whatever was in the cage.

 **Timeskip: 5 Minutes Later**

 **Aura's PoV**

It was a good five minutes before Weiss returned to class to fight whatever Port had in the cage. As she walked down, Yato and Cypher couldn't help but stare at what she was wearing, which was the dress she was wearing when she first got to Beacon.

"Who wears a dress to a fi- Ow, why!?" Yato started to say, but was interrupted when I hit him in the back of the head. Yato spun in his chair and glared at me, obviously irritated.

"One: it's a combat skirt, and Two: shut up and watch." I said correcting him.

"Why do you care, she's a Schnee." Yato shot back, pointing at Weiss.

"Just be quiet." I said with a sigh, quieting Yato, as Weiss stood across from the cage in a ready stance.

"Go Weiss!" Yang said cheerfully for her teammate.

"Fight well!" Blake said smiling, while she was waving a pennant saying "RWBY". Where did she get that?

"Yeah! Represent Team RWBY" Ruby said cheerfully with a smile on her face.

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus" Weiss snapped back harshly, my hatred for this bratty girl rising further.

"Oh, sorry…" Ruby said defeated from her teammate's outburst.

"Stupid Schnee." Yato growled quietly, also taken aback by Weiss' outburst.

"Let the match…" Professor Port started as he lifted up his weapon, which appeared to be a mixture of a battle axe and a trumpet. "Begin!" He exclaimed as he chopped the lock off the cage revealing the beast inside. The beast, of course, was a grimm; more specifically a Boarbatusk.

The Boarbatusk charged at Weiss, but she dodged to the left and slashed at it, but that proved ineffective.

"Haha, wasn't expecting that were you?" Port said in amusement.

"Hang in there Weiss" Ruby said in encouragement. Weiss tried to attack the grimm again, but instead got her sword stuck between it's rather large tusks.

"Bold, new approach. I like it!" Port said cheerfully as Weiss was struggling to get her weapon back.

"Come on Weiss, show it who's boss!" Ruby positively cheered. As Weiss turned to look at her, the Boarbatusk caught her off guard, tossed her weapon behind itself, and got a free hit in which harmed Weiss.

"O ho, now what will you do without your weapon?" Port asked watching the match at hand. The Boarbatusk tried to charge at her to attack, but Weiss dodged at the last second, causing it to hit the edge of the bottom row of desks, causing it to fall on it's back. Taking this opportunity, Weiss ran over to her weapon and retrieved it.

"Weiss, go for it's belly! There's no armor underneath-" Ruby tried to advise.

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss snapped back colder than ever.

"She's just trying to help!" I fussed at her, tired of her pride. When I looked back at the grimm, it did something that I didn't know Boarbatusk could do. It jumped into the air and started to roll like a giant wheel, it revved up a few times before it launched off towards Weiss.

"Spindashing now? Great." Zinex muttered, though I didn't understand what he was talking about, that did seem like the proper word.

Weiss, however, was ready for the attack and created two giant circles. One in front of her, blocking the Boarbatusk attack and causing it to fall on it's back again, and another one above her.

"What in tarnation…" Zinex said confused about what just happened.

"Glyphs" I said starting to explain, "The Schnee family has a shared-blood semblance, and that semblance is/are glyphs. With these, she can do a numerous amount of things, she can use them for maneuvering, platforming, evasion, you know."

"It worries me that you know that much about one family. Your about as infatuated as Yato over there." Zinex said, pointing at Yato behind him. I looked back at Yato and saw his eyes had drifted away from the fight and towards the cheering Yang and was extremely focused on her.

Weiss then jumped back into the glyph that was above her and launched off it, stabbing her sword into the belly of the grimm, effectively killing it. "Guess she can basically slingshot herself or even others at things. I also heard they can summon defeated grimm with them." I said finishing my explanation.

"Hey, that's mildly adequate" Zinex said with a grin on his face, as he watched the match and her semblance.

"Bravo, Braa-vo" Professor said congratulating her. "It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntsmen in training. I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today" Port said glancing at the clock. "Be sure to cover the assigned readings and, and stay vigilant. Class dismissed." And with that, Weiss walked off with a huff.

"Sheesh what's with her?" Jaune ask concerning her current attitude.

"No idea Jaune, no idea" I said as me and my team walked down the aisle to the door. When we all got to the hall, I decided to stop them so we can talk about the day we had.

"So… today was… something" I started to say starting the conversation off.

"Yeah, it was…" Yato said with a dreamy sigh, he was most likely thinking about Yang just as he had during the fight.

"Yeah, and if the tank of the team can keep his crush out his head, then maybe we can have an actual conversation" Cypher said in an irritated manner.

"Shut up!" Yato said defensively as a blush spread quickly across his face, did he seriously think he was hiding anything from us?

"But still, today was pretty..." Zinex said with a grin as a ball of lightning popped in front of them causing them to jump. "Fun. Jeez, will you guys never learn."

"We made it to class, we got meet new people, we got to learn, and we get to go back to our dorms at the end of the day" I said stretching my body and tails.

"Yeah, but how..." Cypher started to say grabbing one of my tails, "Can you use your tails the way you do!? It defies all laws of physics and biology!"

I hastily grab back the grasped tail and wrap it, along with the rest of my tails, around my waist. "I have no idea, but it's helpful as hell" I respond honestly. "Anyway…"

"Thonway!" Zinex quickly said quickly as he began walking in a random direction, changing the subject as fast as he could… thankfully he did as my face was pure red.

"What is a 'thonway'?" Cypher asked with a bewildered expression.

"Mix the terms "that way" and "onward". You'll get the picture." Zinex explained as we finally reached a small elevator, which we all promptly got into.

"So it's like relationship ship names." Yato asked in a confused voice, not getting Zinex's play on words. Cypher then started laughing randomly, we all turned to him extremely confused.

"So it's like yato and yang if they were together. It'd be….y-yang? Ya-to…." Cypher started to say then realised his joke had nowhere to go. We all facepalmed. "C'mon guys help me out here...Tong? Yaya? Guys?"

 **Timeskip: Evening**

 **Location: White Fang Rally**

 **3rd person pov**

"...as the human scum have pushed us down for as long as we have existed. They must be shown the true might of the Faunus Race. The power we hold with the White Fang can do this for our species. You, your children, and all your descendants will never have to fear if you join the White Fang. Your lives will never be at risk as they are with the Human Race. Join us and the humans who harmed you will die. You will never be hated here! For the White Fang!" A female monkey faunus said with the trademark white mask on her face and a sort of evil grin on her face. The crowd of new members cheered for the woman, all loving her speech.

"For the White Fang!" The crowd chanted back quickly as the woman laughed, leaving the stage. The woman walked into the small room they called her dressing room, but she rarely ever dressed in it.

"Miss Iris." Another White Fang member bowed as she entered the room. She knew this wolf faunus to be a man named Gerald, though most wouldn't know this as a mask covered his face.

"Gerald. What brings you this far into Vale?" Iris said removing her mask and revealing a beautiful, yet pale woman. Through her eyes were what really threw off her look. Her eyes looked nearly like pure explosions, which had intimidated a lot of people in her life.

"Got tired of watching and came to give you my report." Gerald said. Without his mask on he looked like a fairly normal faunus, with very forgettable features and boring beige eyes. Even his traveling clothes were the same color of beige. He pulled out a stack of papers then set it on a small dresser in the room. Iris immediately went to the stack of papers and began flipping through them.

"Hm, a lot of useless information. Why would I need to know that Blake had a sign when Weiss fought the boar?" Iris asked holding up a paper that had that very event detailed on in.

"You said everything ma'am." Gerald said seriously just looking at her, silently hoping his report would be good enough to pass. Iris took even more time to look through each sheet of paper.

"Lightning and fire? Hm. Interesting." Iris muttered. "And of course the detailed report on Blake. Adam will be happy to receive this, thank you for your services Gerald. You commitment to the White Fang will not be forgotten.

"Of course Miss Iris." Gerald nodded.

"I will expect your report in the next month. It had better make up for your lack of information this report." Iris said intensely stacking the papers together again. Gerald moved to exit but Iris had one final request. "And do make sure you aren't seen, Adam would hate to have to deal with you personally…"

"Yes ma'am" Gerald said with a shiver as he walked out of the building, with a new focus on his mission.


	10. Chapter 10: Reality sets in

**Location: Beacon Cafeteria**

 **Aura's PoV**

"So… There we were… in the middle of the night…" Nora said telling a story in a mysterious tone of voice

"It was day…" Ren corrected in a unamused tone of voice.

By this time it was already about a month later, and things were still ok. Weiss had let up a bit on her stuck up attitude and was all around a bit kinder to everyone, especially Ruby. Yato was slowly making his advances towards Yang, and by that I mean he actually talked to her instead of blubbering like a idiot. And we all ended up hanging out together, so that was a plus too.

Right now we were all in the cafeteria. Blake was reading a book, Weiss was filing her nails, and Yato was admiring Yang from across the table. Zinex, Cypher, Ruby, Pyrrha and I were listening to Nora's story, which started to sound like a dream because Ren had to continuously correct Nora on various details.

"We were surrounded by Ursai" Nora continued.

"They were Beowolves" Ren corrected again.

"Dozens of them!" Nora exclaimed, almost sounding happy.

"Two of'em" Ren said correcting Nora for a third time.

"But they were no match, and in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora said finishing her story. And this was the point where my suspension of disbelief disappeared. I, and everyone knows, for a fact that was false because when you kill a grimm, the body disintegrates into dust.

"Ah… She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now…" Ren said unamused, as if we already didn't know it was a dream or not.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha said worryingly to her leader. "Are you okay?"

"Uh? Oh, Yeah! Why?" Jaune lied.

"It's just that you seem a little…" Ruby began.

"Not okay" I said finishing her statement. Everyone at the table was looking at him, waiting for a response.

"Eh, guys, i'm fine… Seriously, look!" he said putting on a fake smile. If it weren't for the nervous laugh, I would have dismissed it there.

Then something caused my fox ears to perk up, it sounded like mocking. I looked over and saw Team CRDL messing with a bunny faunus not too far from our table. That just made me sick, part of me wanted to go over there and smack him upside the head, but I held back.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school" Pyrrha said almost authoritarian.

"Who? Cardin Winchester?" Jaune asked trying to sound unaware. "Nah… He just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes!"

"He is a bully" Ruby said flat out.

"A major one" Cypher said in agreeance with Ruby.

"A dickhead." Zinex added quickly glancing at the man in question.

"Oh please… Name one time he's 'bullied' me…" Jaune said challenging us.

"Well let's see… he's done the stereotypical 'knock the book out the hands' routine" Yato said listing and example.

"The time when he shoved your sword into a wall, which took you 3 hours, butter, a pair of non-slip shoes, and then me to happen to walk by and pull it out for you." Zinex said in a slightly amusing tone, as if he thought that was funny.

"He's opened your shield while you were going through a doorway, easily wedging you between" Ruby said listing yet another.

"And then there's his most recent one where he stuffed you into one of the rocket-lockers, put in a code, and launched you from the school" I said putting the final nail in the coffin.

Jaune waited a few seconds to let it soak in, and said "I didn't land far from the school" trying to dismiss the subject.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask…" Pyrrha reassured.

"Ohh" Nora said standing up from the table. "We'll break his legs!" She said with a disturbing amount of joy in her voice.

"And his pretty boy face." Zinex said glaring at Cardin, I quickly wondered how he had encountered the bully, but however it was he sure didn't like him.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Yato cheered in agreeance with Nora's idea. I, however, threw an apple at his head again to get his attention. When he glared at me, I merely shook my head, basically telling him "no".

"Guys, really, it's fine" Jaune reassured as he stood up, with his tray in his hands. "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

Just as he said that, someone cried "Ooww, that hurts!" We all looked back over to where Team CRDL was to see Cardin pulling on the bunny… or rabbit faunus' ear. But then, there were three things that pushed me over my limit; One was the fact that they were pulling on her ear, The second was that she teared up a bit, but the third reason was the fact that one of his teammates had said "what a freak!" That was more than enough to push me over.

"Yato…" I said gritting my teeth in anger, I even felt my eyes burn red as my anger was increasing.

"Yeah?" He said cracking his knuckles, I guess he and I were on the same page.

"Back me up" I said hopping over the table to the aisle Cardin and his team's table was. "Hey" I said grabbing his attention. I walked over to him, grabbed his wrist and made him let go of the girl. Cardin turned towards me with a glare in his eyes of pure anger but I didn't back down.

"Thank you" The bunny girl thanked before quickly sliding away as fast as she could, I couldn't blame her.

I turned back to Cardin, who asked me "what's your problem fox?" In a smug tone of voice, ripping his arm out of Aura's grip then wiping off the non-existent dirt.

"What's his problem? What's your problem!?" Yato asked in frustration, getting tired of having to listen to this asshole.

"What's my- oh right, you two are faunus. More specifically, a dirty monkey and a dumb mutt." He said in an arrogant tone of voice. The more I listen to him, the more I want to stab him, but I still held back.

"Why you little-" Yato said winding up to punch him, but I held him back before he could. I had seen Yato in a battle and if he didn't pull his punches he could seriously hurt someone not prepared, and Cardin had never seen him fight.

"Let's just go Yato, it's not worth it" I said while trying to hold back my own urges.

"But-" Yato tried to say but I raised a finger in protest.

"Hey you dirty faunus, let this bug monkey fight me. I'll show him where he really stands." Cardin mocked, his team laughing alongside of him. Yato strained against my grip but I could tell it was a losing battle for me. Yato was just much stronger than I was, but luckily I had help. Cypher seemingly came out of nowhere, kind of like Zinex did sometimes… guess he had taught him whatever trick that was. Cypher, who might have been a little weak unwieldy his semblance, made up for it with his muscular strength which was even enough to hold the extremely angry Yato back.

"Let's. Just go." I said fighting a losing battle inside. I, much like Yato, wanted nothing more than to tear this piece of shit up, but I kept fighting it. We started walking back to our seats, but before I got back, Cardin decided to deal a very low blow to me.

"Ha, you know I think I recognize that filthy fox. If I remember right, he was off with his bastard family. Oh they were the worst, especially that little girl with the annoying voice, what a bitch." He had said in a loud mocking tone.

I immediately stopped in my tracks as soon as he said that, and the chatter in the cafeteria instantly stopped. He dared to say that about me and my family? How dare he! "What was that?" I said in an emotionless tone of voice, as I closed my eyes and clenched my fists in rage.

"What? You didn't hear me the first time you genetic abomination?!" He said amused. "Let me dumb it down for your tiny brain. I remember your family, they were even filthier than you, and that bitch little sister you have sounds like a real shitbag." he said followed by the laughter of his team and the emotionless laughter of a few in the cafeteria, his reign of terror didn't just start with us.

"Aura-" Jaune tried to say nervously, but it only hit deaf ears, ears deafened by rage. I turned around slowly towards the table Team CRDL was at and held my right hand out. Within seconds, the cafeteria was once again quiet. As I had held up my right hand, the table Team CRDL had been sitting at was now in the air. I was once again using my semblance, luckily tables weren't that heavy.

"Um… du-" Cardin tried to say nervously, trying to be apologetic, but I wouldn't let him. I opened my eyes, revealing my pitch black eyes which had a red pupil in the middle, looked upon them with an angry scowl on my face, and brought my hand down, launching them and the table clear across the cafeteria. It took a few seconds, but the table eventually hit the wall on the far end of the room, leaving a table sized indent into the wall along with the imprints of Team CRDL, who were extremely dazed by this unexpected event.

I heard various whispers and murmurs from the many students who had just witnessed the terrifying spectacle I just performed. I don't care what they say, no one messes with or makes fun of my family, especially Nexus!

"Alright guys nothing to see here, we're just exterminating the pest from your school. One little clown after another." Zinex said aloud with a wide grin on his face standing on yet another table close to where the dazed Team CRDL was.

"MISTER SHARP!" A loud feminine voice yelled from across the hall and immediately all anger flew out of me, instead replaced with the realization of what I had done. I turned around and saw Glynda Goodwitch marching down the aisle, with her riding crop in hand.

"Uh oh…" I said, which was all I could say, concerning what I had just done. I saw the serious anger in Glynda's face and knew this wasn't going to end well for me.

 **Location: Ozpin's Office**

"Assault on another student, Destruction of Campus property, Endangerment of others, just what do you have to say for yourself Mister Sharp?" Miss Goodwitch asked in her intense authoritarian voice. I just stayed silent as a response, if I were to try and answer her question, it would have made matters worse for me than they are now. I was currently in Ozpin's office, which made me feel like I was in a giant clock because you could see winding gears underneath the floor. Both Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch were here, concerning what happened.

"If it were up to me, I would have expelled you and sent you home" Miss Goodwitch threatened. "However, as per usual, Professor Ozpin would like to talk to you about what happened." And with that, she left the office via elevator to her class. I had never let out a bigger sigh of relief before.

"Mister Sharp" Professor Ozpin began calmly, through with a sly smile as he noticed my relief of Glynda's leave. "Do you care to tell me what happened in the mess hall?"

"Well, sir, I… uh… used my semblance and threw a… um… table that team CRDL was on, across the… uh... mess hall" I said answering his question honestly, though kind of scared he would be the one to expel me.

"That would be the case." He said in a calm voice before taking a sip from his mug. "However, what I meant by the question is what brought you to do that in the first place. Nothing happens without a reason ." He said asking the all-important question. I took a deep breath as his intense eyes looked at me. I felt odd in his company, it felt like he already knew a lot.

"The reason…" I said deciding whether or not to give an honest response. If I did, I could get expelled or I can get let off the hook easily. But if I didn't, I could still be expelled or get off scot-free. Either choice had a fifty-fifty chance to either end horribly, or end greatly. So in the end, I chose the truth. "Ok Professor, if I say the reason, promise this stays between you and Miss Goodwitch."

He silently nodded as a response to my statement, indicating he would keep to my promise.

"Ok…" I said, nervous on how to say this. "The reason I did what I did was because of two reasons. One, he was bullying another student who was a faunus; and the second reason is that he blatantly insulted my family, especially my little sister."

"You had a family?" Ozpin asked in his bland, unwavering tone of voice… It seriously felt like he already knew what I was talking about. Even though his voice was bland, and unemotional, I could tell he was trying to be nice.

"Yeah, I did…" I said remembering what happened. "If it's alright with you, may I tell you what happened to them? And why I'm here at Vale?"

"Go ahead Mister Sharp, take all the time you need to explain" Ozpin said with kind smile on his face.

"Ok, well… it was an early Saturday morning…" I said explaining my backstory once again. It took a while to explain this time, because as I was trying to explain I was stuttering trying not to cry.

"And that's how it happened. H-how I got seperated from my family, how I got to Vale, and why I attacked team CRDL." I said finishing my explanation. "So… how much trouble am I in?" I asked ready to accept any punishment that would be given.

"None" Ozpin said blandly and bluntly. "While you acted in a way that was dangerous and could have gotten people hurt, you were doing it with good reason, that and provoked you in a way that was hurtful to you and your family. There will be no punishment for you " Ozpin said with a genuine kind smile.

"Really?" I said both amazed and confused about his choice. "I'm not in trouble?! Th- Thank you sir."

"Your welcome . Now, as for Team CRDL, they will be punished accordingly." He says as he takes a look at the time. "Classes are about to be dismissed for the day. I advise you next time to think about your actions before taking them, understand?"

"Yes, sir, thank you sir" I said making way towards the elevator.

"Oh, and …" Ozpin said getting my attention once again. "May you find your parents and family" he said with a smile. I nodded, entered the elevator and descended down to the main floor of the building.

As I walked towards my dorm, I started to think about my family. How they were doing, where they are, if they missed me, and if they were… alive. But I was shaken out of my thoughts when I felt someone or something tap my shoulder. I turned around and saw the faunus girl I protected earlier today. She had long, brown hair and brown eyes as well as a pair of long, brown rabbit ears.

The outfit she was wearing was comprised by a short, long-sleeved brown jacket with a golden zipper, brown shorts with golden detail and black leggings. She was also wearing a black, semi-translucent undershirt beneath her jacket, along with golden spaulders and vambraces on both arms, as well as a similar belt, and her heel and toe are likewise protected.

"Um… hi" She said shyly, probably because of what happened earlier in the mess hall.

"Oh hi… uh..." I said with a pause because I didn't know her name.

"V- Velvet, Velvet Scarlatina" she said holding out her hand in introduction, though she was very nervous.

"Hello Velvet, my name is Aura Sharp" I said kindly introducing myself. She giggled a bit before shaking my hand with a smile on her face. "Gods, I hate my name. At one point or another it gets laughed at. Only one person yet hasn't laughed at it."

"It's ok, I think it's cute" Velvet said genuinely, which resulted with me blushing slightly. "Um… anyway. Thank you for helping me out earlier today" she said also blushing slightly.

"Your welcome, It was no problem" I said taking a bow, trying to hide my blush.

"But you didn't need to do that" she said with her voice starting to deflate. Why would she feel like that? She didn't do anything, she was just minding her own business and Cardin decided to bully her for no reason.

"But I did, he was bullying you, I had to step in." I said reassuring everything was okay.

"But, you got in trouble, and-" she started to say.

"It's no big deal, that and he deserved what happened to him. If I didn't stand up to him then no one would" I said interrupting her. I took a look at my scroll and saw a message from Yato, telling me to meet them back at the dorm. "Anyway, gotta go. It was a pleasure to meet you Velvet" I said running to the dormitory.

"Oh, same with you Aura!" Velvet yelled to me. How was I going to tell the others what happened in Ozpin's office? Eh, just tell the truth I guess.

 **Location: Beacon Dorm Building**

 **Zinex pov**

"... so luckily Professor Ozpin let me off the hook." Aura said, finishing his explanation of what had happened while we walked to our dorm. I was honestly surprised we hadn't met any opposition from Cardin's three goons. Aura had plainly embarrassed those idiots in front of the whole school.

"Guess the professor likes you." Cypher said with a huff, obviously tired from the hard day of training we had today. "But while you sat in his office, Glynda pushed us hard in training."

"You can say that again." Yato said with the same huff, though I didn't feel tired or angry from the training itself. The training was hell for me for a different reason. Everyone in this place had what was called an 'aura' and the irony of my fox dude friend, these people called a faunus, had finally reached me. Basically an aura was something of a natural shield against any type of danger the world possessed, not to mention it was a really good healer. The issue with this is that I didn't possess one, and during training they would monitor our aura's to teach us when to keep fighting and when to back off. I had spent hours our first night figuring out how to trick their computers into reading one for me and luckily my power was lightning. During training I would have to form a very thin layer of electricity right at my skin, not noticeable to the human eye, but enough to fool the computers. Though, keeping that barrier up and adjusting it to read lower when I was hit seriously wore me out and distracted me in our training fights but until I could hack the computer systems… it was all I had.

"Glynda pushed u-" Cypher began to say again but Yato sighed loudly.

"That's not what I meant smoke for brains." Yato said facepalming which led Cypher to growl, having no comeback. As we neared a stairway next to our dorm Aura stopped.

"What are you doing dorms over here, did you forget already Mr. Leader?" I asked sarcastically but judging from his face and his now blue eyes, he really wasn't feeling well. Guess what the assclown had said really got to him.

"Hey, I'm going up to the roof for a little while. I just need some… time." He said in a soft voice. His whole demeanor really wasn't usual, the usual dorky smugness he had was gone and was replaced by an all too familiar emotion.

"Wait w-" Yato started to ask but this time it was my turn to smack Yato upside the head. He shot his head towards me but I was much quicker than Aura and reverted to my normal stance, confusing the hell out of Yato but making Cypher laugh.

"Alright Aura, we will see you later." Cypher said as the three of us made our way away from Aura, as he entered the stairway and disappeared from sight. It took us a few minutes to reach our dorm, which we had marked with a sign that said 'For the tank of the team: this is where we live.' which was a horrible comedy attempt by Aura.

"Well now that we're here, bye." Yato said disappearing faster than we could even question his disappearance. We both entered the room without even asking the question of where he went, as this hadn't be the first time he's just disappeared.

"Ah just us, now I can finally relax without Yato trying to talk to us about Yang." Cypher said with a breath of relief as he laid in his bed. He then glanced at me. "Speaking of Yato's crush, who's yours."

At that point I realized why Yato left so much.

"Ooo Just remembered I got a uh… appointment with uh… Gl- Ozpin, Yeah Ozpin. So… yeah." I said quickly exiting the room, there's was no way my crush on… oh you really thought I was going to give it away that easy?

I closed the door behind me, cutting off Cypher's protest. I quickly looked left down the hallway where I assumed Yato had gone down then right where Aura had gone. I decided to go right and walked past the door our leader had gone through and headed to a much more important place.

 **Timeskip: Night**

 **Location: Dormitory Rooftop**

 **Aura's PoV**

Why? Why did my life turn out this way? How did Cardin know about my family? Why did he say that about them? Why!? These questions were the questions that passed through my head as I walked up the stairwell to the roof. I eventually made it to the roof and gazed upon the night sky. The broken moon, shining brightly down upon Remnant as I held back my tears.

I slowly made my way to the edge of the roof, my mind racing with many thoughts of my family as I did so. When I reached the edge, I sat down, my legs dangling down over it. Thinking back to that fateful day, I pulled out the only photo I had of everyone. Serenity, Marx, Alice, Jaxson, Liem, and… Nina… I want to be with them, I wish they were here, I wish-

"Big Bro…" I heard a familiar voice that I haven't heard in two years. I look over to my right to see Nexus standing there.

"Nina…" I said in disbelief of what I was seeing. I felt a tear slide down my face in pure happiness as I saw the smiling face of Nina looking.

"I love you" she said smiling warmly. I put the photo between my index and middle fingers as I slowly reached forward to touch her face, only for it to go straight through her. I slowly retracted my hand and looked at it, when I looked back to where she was, she had disappeared. She wasn't there, it was just a figment of my imagination. I tried desperately not to cry as I was still longing to see them again. But this happened before life decided to be a douche-nozzle to me again.

There was a sudden gust of wind that blew the photo between my fingers, straight into the sky, away from my grasp. "No!" I yelled in desperation and sadness as I tried to grab the photo before it was too late. But the wind was too strong, and blew it away out of my reach. I wanted to use my Psychokinesis to try and grab it, but it would be useless because I couldn't see it clearly.

The only thing I had to remind me of my family was… gone… just like they were. The tears I was so desperately trying to hold back were flowing freely, as I cried my eyes out. I don't know how long I cried for but it didn't matter… my whole body didn't matter. I just wanted to see my family again, to hug all of them, to just be by them. But I couldn't, the people who had raised me were as gone to me as the picture I thought to be fluttering in the wind.

"Just let it out" I heard a voice next to me say. I thought it was going to be Marx or maybe even Ozpin, but as I turned to the person, the first thing I saw were glowing yellow eyes and the word SnickerDoodle printed on a little package being handed to me. "Let me tell you a story."


	11. Chapter 11: Beacon of Fire

**Dorm Building Balcony**

 **Zinex POV**

"That's… a lot." Aura said, his eyes a very dark blue. I couldn't really tell if he believed me or not as his eyes wouldn't tell me anything.

"Imagine living it." I said sighing as I looked up at the rising cracked moon. I couldn't help but wonder how it had happened.

"So you're telling me you're from another dimension?" Aura asked in a slow tone, obviously trying to process what I had told him.

"Yeah."

"Where Remnant, Grimm, and Semblances don't exist?" He asked and I took a deep breath, knowing this was a lot to wrap around his brain.

"Well in a way they exist." I shrugged with a small grin he didn't notice.

"And you use your semb- powers to travel through what you called…'Existence', which is the all of the universes." He said slowly, obviously still confused.

"Yep." I said leaning on the railing and looking out at the walkway to the main tower which was devoid of people. Guess they were all sleeping or in their dorms.

"How the hell do you expect me to believe all this crazy talk?" He spun to me, it was clear he thought I was insane.

"Seriously man? Do you need any more evidence? I didn't laugh at your ironic name, I didn't know what a Nevermore was, and I don't even have an aura which even Jaune has, and he doesn't even have a semblance." I pointed out with a laugh but he didn't seem convinced then got an excited look on his face.

"You do have an aura, one: it pops up when we're training and two: it heals you, I've seen it." Aura stated as if he had just found evidence to call my claim bullshit. I sighed at his refusal to believe then pulled out my phone-I mean scroll, then handed it to Aura. I had pulled up the sensor for my 'aura' to which Aura was now seeing it as full. "What is this for?"

"Just watch the screen." I said then pulled out the canister that transformed into my new sword. To me it was just as I liked it, pure black blade and hilt with a simple lightning bolt down the middle however Ruby had said my weapon was boring. I took down the small lightning barrier that was supposedly my aura and immediately Aura had a confused look on his face. I then moved my sword and sliced my hand just enough to draw blood. He then looked at my hand as my slightly yellowish-red blood flowed a little then the wound quickly healed, completely disappearing without a trace.

"What?" Aura said completely in awe as he saw me having a zero reading on my aura but still healing quickly.

"Like I said, I'm not from Remnant. I'm from a place called Earth." I explained a little further and he raised an eyebrow.

"So the name of the place you're from is the same name as the dirt?" He questioned which brought a grin to my face.

"Exactly, same irony as your name." I said and he sighed, still trying to wrap his brain around this whole thing.

"How did you end up here than?" He asked. While I had explained to him a little about who I was and how I had been through dimensions, I hadn't told him a lot. I couldn't tell him a lot, whether it painted me in a bad light or I had sworn never to speak of it.

"I can't exactly choose where I end up, it's like a gamble of where I end up. After...some things happened, I had to quickly escape so I just… kinda appeared here." I said being as on point, but as vague, as I could be just so they didn't figure out what had happened in that abandoned city. "Anyway I met this old man by saving him from a Nevermore as I told you, and for doing that he made me this sword. Apparently he was friends with Ozpin and managed to get me a place in Beacon."

"This is a lot really…" Aura said looking over the balcony, lost in thought. "And to think I cried over a picture of my family…"

"Hey at least you have a picture." I said once again looking over the balcony. The girl I had loved seemingly appeared in the distance, on the ground in the middle of the large walkway. I closed my eyes in the distance, on the ground in the middle of the large walkway. I closed my eyes and wished her away, I refused to let the darkness consume me… her death would not be in vain. I would keep my promise, I would learn how to be truly good.

"I had a picture… the wind caught it and took it away…" He said and I could see tears welling back up in his eyes. I then felt a small gust of wind blowing towards Beacon Tower. This was my opportunity.

"You know, you can't really travel dimensions without gaining some cool things." I said then put my hands to my trench coat collar and filtered a little electricity through the collar. For a second nothing happened then my coat began to transform around me, turning into a pure black metal armor that look sort of like a spacesuit to an outsider. It had two pieces of pure black screens that completely hid my eyes, but allowed me to see out. I was, for a moment, only looking at Aura's surprised face but then quickly the interface started up and the targeting system came up.

" … I… I just… wow" I heard Aura say in pure wonder as he stared at my armor. This armor was something I had possessed for a long time. It never failed me, except that one time it flew off me into another dimension.

"Alright now… now's the fun part." I said with a grin he couldn't see. I filtered electricity to my boots where the ion boosters were and I immediately took over with nothing more than the small sound of a gust of wind. I glided through the air quite easily, right towards the legendary Beacon Tower. Anyone looking up would see something like a dark object with a yellow booster trail coming from my boots. I looked back at Aura, who still had a look of wonder on his face as he got smaller and smaller in my view. I flew up higher, pushing more electricity through my boots, and reached nearly the top of the Beacon Tower, just above the glowing green lights that hung in the tower. I landed and looked around, the view taking my breath away as the City of Vale took my view in the distance. For a moment, I just stared at the scenery amazed by it. It reminded me of the place I grew up in, futuristic yet… beautiful. I could have sat here for hours, just admiring the world around me but someone woke me from my thoughts.

"Hello Mr. Zeno, admiring the view?" I heard a wise voice say behind me. I quickly turned around and my targeting system immediately focus on the speaker. It was Ozpin. How he knew it was me baffled me, how he got here baffled me even more. I did a quick scan around and saw no doors or even any hatches. I lifted my armored hand to the side of my helmet and pressed a small button and my helmet folded into my armor revealing my face. Ozpin smiled as I paused for a second, guess he noticed my absolute confusion.

"How did yo-" I started to ask but he held up his hand, indicating I should be quiet. I don't know why I was compelled to be quiet but I felt in my body that I should shut up… perhaps there was a first time for everything.

"I could ask what you're doing up here. However I think some questions shall be left unanswered tonight." Ozpin said in a very vague tone. He then walked to the edge of the little platform we were standing on, holding his cane to his side and staring out at Vale. "Tonight is quite a beautiful night don't you agree?"

"Yeah reminds me of… home." I said slowly, too looking out at the city on the skyline. I remembered the lights of an even bigger city, with even more people, and skyscrapers that put hope into people. I hadn't seen the skyline of my home in so long… but this still made me smile a little, giving me the reminder of when things weren't as complex.

"Hm, Vacuo am I right?" He asked in a curious tone. I nodded, though I of course hadn't ever stepped foot in Vacuo, much less seen it from afar. The story worked well however and no one ever questioned me. "Yes, Vacuo is quite the beautiful place… the same cannot be said for some of the people there however, which is a shame. Though I must ask, what brought you to Beacon instead of Shade Academy? Shade academy is quite the institution, they make fine hunters and huntresses."

"Parents death, kinda made me want to leave Val-Vacuo." I said mixing up the names of the two kingdoms, even after a month I still did that. I scolded myself silently but Ozpin merely chuckled, was it possible he had missed my slip up. For a moment, the smile stayed on his face as he continued to look out at the city.

"Understandable Mr. Zeno. Death of a loved one can drive anyone to move to other… places." He said fairly vaguely but with a friendly smile as he turned to me. This comment threw me off, seriously putting me into 'oh shit' mode. He couldn't know about her, could he? I was about to question what he meant by that but I didn't get the chance. "But I believe our time is getting short, I assume your leader is wondering where you are. So here you are."

"What?" I questioned as he handed me a small picture depicting seven fox faunus standing in front of a fairly run down building with snow literally everywhere. Some of the seven looked happy others… didn't. I could tell the oldest male seemed to have a sort of angry expression on his face, like he really didn't want to be there. It was a nice picture, depicting a nice family. I stared at the picture for a minute, understanding how horrible Aura had felt losing this picture… I knew too well how hard it was losing the people that meant alot to me.

"I believe that is 's. He'll be glad that you found it up here by yourself… Alexander." Ozpin said as he walked behind me, my eyes widened as I spun around.

"How the hell did you kno-" I started to ask in a seriously afraid and baffled, but Ozpin was gone. There wasn't even a hint that he had been here… then again, how had reached me in the first place. I stood there for a moment, now lost in questions. How how Ozpin figured out my real name, how did he know? How could he had found out… I hadn't even told Aura that. Speaking of Aura… I took one last look at the large green lights that hung on the tower, then hit a button on my armor's collar and my helmet formed around my head. I then took off, quickly speeding back towards Aura, thoughts of my very odd conversation with Ozpin. As I flew I pulled up the auto recording software in my suit, and rewatched the entire conversation and saw that I hadn't completely lost my mind, the conversation happened.

"Your back." Aura said waking me from my thoughts, his voice seemed rather pained. I then filtered lightning through the systems of the armor, signaling it to change back into a trench coat. I then held out the picture of his family for him to take. He looked at it for a moment as if he too had just gone through insanity as well, what's worse is I could imagine how he felt. He grabbed the picture out of my hand and looked at it, his eyes changing to a dark blue. I debated telling him about how I had specifically got here, but I knew he would hate me… hell I hated me.

"Let's say we get back to the dorm man. I think we've had a… long day." I said still thinking about the insane conversation I had with Ozpin. The man had seriously taken me by surprise, I was still rattled by the fact he had knowledge of my name. Not to mention of what he could know about me, he made it seem like he knew quite a lot, but how?

"Yeah, that's true…" Aura said clutching the picture of his family hard in his hands, being sure not to lose it. I sighed as I held the door open for Aura, thinking of what Ozpin had hoped to gain from the conversation with me.

 **Location: Another Beacon Rooftop**

 **3rd Person PoV**

As Yato approached the roof he thought of Cardin and his entire attitude, which made him frown heavily but he took a breath, pushing it from his brain. It took a little while to reach the roof as he was focused more on clearing his thoughts than he was actually making it to a balcony no one really used. When he did finally reach the roof he pulled out his scroll and began searching through it, looking for a song, and when he did he set it to play aloud and set it down.

There was a few second pause before he moved, he started to shuffle his feet and lean back as if someone was there, but then he did a backflip to stop him from falling. He almost fell but he smoothly recovered by shuffling his feet again and end it with a spin, but he stopped himself before he got dizzy.

He then hopped up on a exposed air vent to only pull his body to the left as he only fell slowly for him to do a little hop into a spin, as if an ice skater was performing a double axle before landing back on the ice. As he landed he started to slow down, and like a ballerina he spun but stopped to face his back towards the door of the roof and flipped his long hair as if he was trying to impress someone. Though to him he didn't think anyone was there, he couldn't be more wrong.

A new figure entered the scene, a figure with long blond hair and intense purple eyes appeared in the doorway. She had seen Yato going through the halls at such a slow pace, so lost in thought, that she had been curious where he had been going, as he had been doing this routine nearly every night since they arrived at Beacon. Yato hadn't noticed Yang following him as he had been more focused on his own thoughts than someone following him.

However when he looked back, almost as if he sensed someone else there, he saw that Yang was there standing there in a look of surprise, amusement and awe at how he could move, it was almost like an art, as if he practiced this before. He paused for a minute, frozen in pure humiliation in his brain. Standing before him was the girl he had crush on, the girl he liked since he first saw her. For a single moment everything stopped and only the music was making a sound. Yato knew what to do, he knew it was his chance to pull her into this before answering questions, so just like that, he walked over to her and looking into her eyes and took her hand and started to spin her without saying anything. For minutes they danced, not a word spoken between them, just pure emotion. As the song came to a close, they both took a very familiar tango position as they stood there in that pose for a second, Yato them shifted his back so it was him on the bottom and yang on top, and after that movement he walked backwards so they could get more room on the roof.

And then he started to move once again, but this time he quickly pulled her up and spun her again, holding her hand and as she came back to his arms. He was standing behind her holding her by the hips and quickly moved in front of Yang holding one of her hands as he pushed loose hair back behind her ear to lean into a kiss. But before he could, his blood ran cold as he realized what he had done, who it was he was with. A rose red blush appeared across his face as froze just before their lips made contact.

"Don't be such a tease." Yang smirked then closed the gap between their lips then quickly pulled back, a rather different kind of smile. "Have fun with the rest of your dance Yato."

She then exited the balcony, leaving Yato's face extremely red, and wide-eyed. He couldn't believe what had just happened, something he had dreamed about since the beginning of the school year. He quickly grabbed his scroll and bolt back to his dorm room, taking a different path so as to avoid Yang. He quickly opened the door then slammed it shut, waking up the already half-asleep Cypher. Cypher shot up and looked at Yato, who had a face of embarrassment and fear.

"Ugh… Yato?" Cypher says groggily as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. "What happened? What time is it?"

Yato didn't answer. Still in a ball he fell to his side and remained there motionless. All he wanted to do was either cry from fear, or shout from the rooftops with joy. He had the chance to finally pursue his dreams with Yang, but he had froze. He had wanted to confess his feelings, but his voice hadn't let him speak. What did this all mean? "N-nothing man, where is Zinex?"

"I uh...don't know. He said he was going to a meeting with Ozpin." Cypher said yawning then looking at the time. "Dude we need to sleep, aren't we going to the city in the morning?"

"Y-yeah." Yato said finding his own bed but not feeling comfortable, it was as if his whole body was shooting with adrenaline. He knew it was going to be awhile before he got to sleep.

Yato quietly whimpered as he curled tighter in his ball of fear

 **Location: White Fang Camp**

 **3rd person pov**

"Hello Gerald." Greeted a woman's voice from inside a large and dark tent. Gerald, the wolf faunus, entered the flap of the tent. He looked very different than he had the previous month, bags under his eyes and an expression of tiredness filled his face. His clothes were similar as they had been the last time but covered in wrinkles, not to mention his demeanor had seemingly changed. Gone was the overconfidence he had once had and it was instead replaced by a cautious and rather humbled look. The woman in the room, Iris, was standing next to a man wearing red and black attire and stood at 6'4. He had an extremely confident tone about him and Gerald knew who this man was. He turned around from the window he was looking out of, and assumingly looking to Gerald, however he couldn't be sure as the man's eyes could not be seen due to his mask only having slits on it.

"Hello Miss Iris. Mister Taurus." Gerald said a bit unnerved by the presence of the red haired bull faunus being here. He had heard brutal stories of Adam Taurus, feared by human and faunus alike, and everyday he began to believe them more and more. He liked the White Fang but he was unsure of how to feel about the bull.

"Gerald… you're the informant Iris has been telling me such about." Adam said in a very cold and rather anger filled voice. Gerald then reached into his brown coat pocket and pulled out a rather large peach colored folder, full of paper, which made Adam grimace. "What is this? You expect me to sort through all this paper, why isn't this on scroll?"

"Keep calm Adam, the paper was my orders. I prefer a hard copy as opposed to sending it through Beacon Tower for our enemies to retrieve it. Though I have asked Gerald to prepare you a scroll." Iris explained taking the folder out of the hands of Gerald then opening it on the small desk that was in the tent and began to look through it. Gerald reached into his other coat pocket and pulled out a very generic looking scroll and handed it to Adam, who jerked it out of Gerald's hands. It seemed to the wolf faunus than many stories of Adam's rage were well founded, he could tell the faunus was an extremely easily angered individual. " 'Yato of AYZC infatuated with Yang from RWBY' what is that supposed to mean?"

"Sorry ma'am, Yato has had this infatuation for Yang Xiao Long. It has been painfully obvious though I cannot identify to what degree their relationship will intensify." Gerald explained a little, thinking back to all the times he had to sit through Yato's obsession with the blonde haired girl.

"Pitiful, Yato further disgusts me. Falling in love with a human, disgusting." Iris spat, ripping the page out of the book with a sort of odd fury.

"I don't care about their precious love affairs…" Adam began to say but Iris smirked then laughed a little.

"Is that why you asked Gerald to make sure he had more information about Blake Bell-" Iris began to say but Adam shot his head towards Iris.

"Hold your tongue." Adam said in an intense voice, full of probable rage. His voice had become so powerful, Iris's smile had immediately dropped and Gerald felt the change in the room.

"Besides what is here, what other comments do you have?" Iris said quickly moving the conversation forward. Gerald thought for a moment, he had gathered a lot of information of the entire academy. However it was AYZC, RWBY, and JNPR that gathered most of his attention.

"The Semblances of these people are quite extraordinary. Though AYZC worries me, especially with some pieces of our plan. Zinex seems to be able to control lightning at will, Cyphers fire ability, Yato's explosives, and the most recent event with Aura-" Gerald started to explain.

"What are you talking about?" Adam said looking up from the scroll he seemed to be reading off of. Gerald took a deep breath then explained what had happened in the lunchroom between Aura and Cardin. "Maybe there is hope for that fox yet."

However, Iris laughed a sort of maniacal laughter for a minute. Then calmed down.

"Seriously Adam? I know his parents, not a single Sharp would join the White Fang." Iris laughed again. Gerald looked between the two of them, he assumed his report had been good. With Adam here he had assumed he would leave in pain. "Good work Gerald. Now we can move further with the plan. I expect your next report soon, I shall near Beacon soon. You may go."

"Thank you ma'am, sir." Gerald said then as quickly as possible exited the tent. Iris smiled as she watched him exit.

"A good informant, wouldn't you agree?" Iris asked as she turned back to the passages Gerald had handwritten. She found the page on Blake that Adam had asked for and grinned a little more, but said nothing. Gerald had tried his best gathering information, though it seemed he failed when it came to both Blake and Zinex. The limited amount of information intrigued her, it appeared both of them didn't use their scrolls all too much. She looked closer at the records and found something odd and began looking closer. The numbers were from Zinex's aura scanner within his scroll, as she stared closer at the numbers and her mind worked she grinned broadly. "Oh Adam I found something interesting."


	12. Chapter 12: Inconvenient Truth

**Location: Vale Streets**

 **Aura's PoV**

"... And that's what happened last night…" Yato said with a sort of depressed voice and a glumly expression on his face, explaining his hilariously embarrassing, and slightly confusing story. I noticed Zinex shoot a sly grin at Yato.

"And I thought I had girl troubles. But you my friend, you get the award for biggest freezer." Zinex said with a chuckle much to Yato's expense. As per usual, Yato glared at Zinex who just laughed at his pain. Zinex smacked him on the back with another laugh. "Oh c'mon warm up Yato, or I'll get Cypher to do it for you."

At this point it had been a day since I had shoved Cardin and his team's smug faces into a wall, and even though Ozpin had told me all of what I had done wrong… I wouldn't have changed it at all. I glanced around the city, since classes were halted during sundays, we either trained, went to the city, or studied. Today, however, we had decided to go to the city to buy new books and sell any goods we found in the Emerald Forest.

"Ugh, I honestly don't know." Yato said sighing in defeat, still continuing the conversation. "She may or may not like me, but I like her. What am I going to do?" From what he told us, when he went to kiss her, he froze up. His body and heart went faster than his mind, and when his mind caught up… well he froze. We still couldn't believe she had just kissed him though, that was unexpected.

"Man, I don't know about you, but if I were you I'd just go for it. You never know when shit might shit the fan and you miss the opportunity, ad that is the worst kind of torture… the 'what if' game. Just talk to her, you wont regret it" He then said sounding serious, the look on his face held no grin which alone confused me off. Wow, he must have been through alot if he words it like that.

"Yeah… thanks" Yato said brightening up with a slight smile as we passed a nice little flower shop where flowers of all different colors seemed to bloom. It made me smile as well.

"We're a team, aren't we?" I said whole heartingly, thinking of all the time we had spent together training, fighting, and even laughing. "After all, we need the tank-of-the-team at their best, right?"

"Right" Cypher said in agreeance, with a rare smile.

"Thanks guys." Yato said with sincerity. "Yeah, lets go!" He yelled in confidence before dashing off. We eventually caught up to him and continued to walk together until we made it to the pier, though barely keeping up with him, and at the pier we saw a familiar team there.

"Hey… isn't that Team RWBY over there?" Cypher asked pointing towards the group in question.

"Its official, Yato's also the bloodhound of the team." Zinex added with a laugh, I too couldn't believe that Yato's random speed walking/running had led us right to RWBY… especially Yang. This made Yato's eyes open in fear.

"Yeah… that uh… that's them alright…" Yato said laughing nervously. I turned towards him to see that he was trying to tiptoe away without any of us knowing. Really? I ain't having that.

"Zinex?" I said getting his attention. He looked at me, and I gestured to our attempting escapee. He grinned broadly.

"Not so fast." He said then grabbed Yato by the tail, and began pulling him forward with relative ease and Yato complained.

"Ow! Why…" Yato said in physical and emotional pain.

"Because you need to face this head on" Cypher said aggressively, yet friendly, pointing to Yang specifically. "And if you won't do it on your own, we'll have to force you. So man up!" All Yato could do is whimper in despair as we approached the group.

"Hey guys" I said grabbing the attention of Team RWBY. They all turned to look at us. Ruby was smiling sweetly, Weiss was looking at us as if we had done something wrong, and Blake waved at us with a bland look on her face. Yang however, was blushing slightly as she looked at us, and she wasn't the only one. I turned to look at Yato to see that he was facing downward trying to hide his own blush.

"Hey guys" Ruby said brightly to us, standing on her tiptoes for no apparent reason. She was quite the odd girl at times. "How come you're here today?"

"We could ask you guys the same thing" Cypher said suspiciously and kind of randomly. There seemed to be a tension that lasted a few seconds before we all started to chuckle, even Weiss and Blake chuckled.

"Well if you must know, we're here to welcome the students from the other academies" Weiss said trying to sound much more superior than she actually was. I gritted my teeth as I hated listening to her.

"No we're not" Yang said with a smug face. "She dragged us here so we could scope out the competition for the upcoming Vytal festival."

"Hey! That's not true" Weiss said with her voice in a slightly higher pitch than normal.

"Yeah… Right…" I said mused turning my eyes yellow. "Anyway, we're here to buy supplies and to sell things we've found in the Emerald Forest."

"Like what?" Blake asked tilting her head to the side. Her piercing eyes seemed to bore into me, which really made me uncomfortable. Her eyes seemed unblinking and very curious, kind of like a-

"Well… for the supplies we bought books, dust cartridges for our weapons, and some sweets for these two" Cypher listed as he show them an assortment of the things from the backpack we had made him carry, then pointing to Yato and I, much to our embarrassment.

"As for the stuff we sold..." Yato began, recovering from his embarrassment "It was mostly various minerals and broken weapon parts. Which is weird because you'd expect that they would clear the forest out every now and then."

"Eh, whatever, at least we got paid for it" Cypher said while walking to the railing. We all joined him and looked out to the sea. It was beautiful, the water glistening in the sunlight, the waves overlapping each other, the wind lightly blowing around. It was so peaceful. I noticed Zinex had placed himself between Yato and Blake, giving Yato some distance from Yang. Though I thought that was his intention, he seemed to be having a nice conversation with Blake as they both were smiling.

But that lasted all but a good five seconds before something bad happened again… why me?

"Hey, Aura" Cypher said slapping my chest, getting my attention. When I turned towards him, he pointed to a store in the distance with a bunch of people going in and out. But what really made it stand out was the fact that a group of people wearing similar clothing and masks that mimicked a Grimm face and were taking dust from the store and bringing it to a set of motorcycles. "Isn't that the White Fang over there?"

"WHAT!?" Blake, Weiss, and Yato said in disbelief from what Cypher said.

"Wasn't that a generic reaction." I heard Zinex mumble as we all looked over to the side of the port. Then the rest of the group saw that in fact the White Fang was robbing a freighter.

"Why ar-" Weiss started to say but there was no time for words. I looked to my team quickly.

"Come on" I said interrupting her, quickly jumping over the railing and taking my weapon out. When I looked behind me, everyone had their weapons out and ready to fight, it looked like a true battle. Together, we all ran to the end of the street where the White Fang members were and stopped. "Hey!" I yelled grabbing their attention. When they looked towards me and the rest of the group at first, they seemed unfearful, though it was hard to tell as they were all wearing masks; but after a few seconds, their faces paled as they looked at all of us. One of the White Fang members whispered something to the others before they loaded the last case of dust on their motorcycles and punched their motorcycles to go. A loud roar of the motorcycles caused all of us to hold our ears except one person, Zinex, who wasn't phased at all.

"Leaving so soon?" I heard Zinex yell as he fired a bolt of lightning from his hand at the one of the motorcycles,however, his tactic proved ineffective. While the motorcycle immediately died due to the large power surge, the rider quite easily vaulted off his motorcycle and jumped onto another members. While he had saved some dust for the would be shopkeeper, Zinex still grimaced in irritation.

"After them!" Weiss yelled as she passed me and Zinex, and ran after the White Fang members with a quickness. We all followed her closely as we continued to chase them around the corners of the city, but that all literally came crashing down when Weiss ran into someone, effectively causing us all to trip and fall on top of her. "Oof" she shrieked as we all fell, a muffled "Get off of me" was heard as she tried to get up. It took a bit, but we all got up together, minus Weiss and the person she knocked over.

The girl had short, rather curly orange hair with a small ahoge on top that came down to her chin. She was wearing a pink bow on the back of her head. had bright green eyes, light skin and freckles. She wore a whitish-gray old-fashioned blouse with short gray feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings. The green lines on the side of her stockings also appear to glow at times, and she had what appeared to be a small and thin backpack on her back.

"No, they got away" Weiss said in frustration as she looked around for the motorcyclists but they had already turned a corner and disappear from our ears.

"Uuuhh, Weiss…" Yang said nervously to her teammate, pointing to the girl underneath her, to which it seemed Weiss hadn't noticed.

"You have someone…" Cypher said doing the same. Weiss turned towards the person, who was still lying on the ground, who just smiled brightly at her.

"Aahh" Weiss shrieked as she finally got up with a quickness, quickly batting dust off of her dress.

"Salutations" the girl said friendly as she continued to lay on the ground. What was with her?

"Um… hello" Ruby said confused about the girl.

"Um… are you… okay?" Cypher asked just as confused as the rest of the group seemed to be besides Zinex. He instead had this look of curiosity and wonder on his face.

"I'm wonderful. Thank you for asking" the girl said still lying awkwardly on the ground. We all looked at each other with baffled looks on our faces about this girl's… uniqueness. Zinex quickly jumped forward and reached his hand out.

"Here, I'll help you up?" Zinex asked with that his normal confident grin he always had.

"Okay." She said nodding, and taking his hand to get up. As Zinex pulled her up her eyes widened a bit. A small pop could be heard. "Oh you shocked me."

"Yeah I get that a lot." Zinex grinned then backed up, he had this look in his eyes like he was thinking super hard. I then noticed he looked down to his scroll and began working vigorously on something.

"Anyway… who are you?" I asked wanting to know more about this girl, her personality had intrigued me so.

"My name is Penny" She said in that eternally happy tone. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny, I'm Ruby" Ruby said introducing herself. Zinex quickly the snuck near me, holding up his scroll for me to see.

"I found a trace of something you might want to look at, might help you find your family." Zinex said. I looked on the scroll and saw an image of a normal warehouse. It seemed rather large and around it contained not a trace of snow but rather 4 hedges of lavender near the wide white entrance doors. While I didn't notice anything else odd about the image what did immediately catch my attention was the caption "The warehouse of Mr. And Mrs. Sharp." written on the bottom. What did this have to do with my parents. What did that mean?

"And these two are Aura and Zinex" I heard Yato say introducing the both of us. Though Zinex saved me the trouble of speaking, as he took the scroll back. I noticed the marking on the scroll and recognized them… they were White Fang.

"Sup." Zinex said simply then looked back down at his scroll, another image appearing on it but of something I couldn't quite see.

"Hello there. Pleasure to meet you." Penny said happily.

"You already said that" Weiss snarked back a bit rudely.

"Says the girl who lost the biker trail." Cypher muttered a bit irritated. Weiss glared at him harshly.

"Watch your mouth hot head!" Weiss said but Cypher kept his serious look on his face which made Weiss falter a bit.

"Shut your mouth brat!" Cypher shot back, flames dancing in his irises.

"Well, see you later friend" Ruby said pulling on Weiss who looked ready to fight Cypher. We then began to walk in no particular direction as a group not really saying much. As we walked my mind couldn't help but wander into the very picture Zinex had sent me. Was that where my parents were? Could that give me a clue as to where they actually were? So many more question began to run through my head. Luckily someone woke me out of my thoughts.

"She was… weird" Yang said referring to Penny, though definitely sneaking a glance at Yato. How the tables had turned.

"Yeah… very…" Yato sad looking slightly away from her. I guess he was still feeling bad about last night.

"Yes, she was" Weiss said adding her two cents. "Anyway, where did that faunus riff-raff run off to?" She then asked before the group stopped before Penny… how had she…

"What in tarnation?" Zinex said in disbelief by the fact she had just appeared in front of us.

There was a brief pause before anyone said anything. "What did you call me?" Penny asked turning her head to the side.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me" Yang apologized as Weiss and I took a few double takes to the fact that she was behind us earlier, but then somehow appeared in front of us.

"No, not you…" Penny said as she walked past us to Ruby, "You!"

"Me?!" Ruby asked in confusion, leaning backwards. "-I don't know, I- what I- um, uh-" Ruby stammered nervously as Penny was right in front of her face.

"You called me 'friend', Am I really your friend?" Penny asked genuinely curious. Very weird...

"Uummm…" Ruby said nervously as she looked back at all of us. Weiss, Blake and Yang were making no gestures; Yato and Zinex were giving thumbs up and nodding, saying yes; and Cypher and I just shrugged our shoulders, unsure about what to say/do. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" Ruby said as a response to Penny's question, much to Yang's, Blake's and Weiss' dismay; and much to Yato and Zinex's amusement.

"Sen-sational" Penny laughed with joy as she listed some activities an average, non-huntsmen girl would do, not that I minded. I wasn't even focused on them, my mind had returned to the photograph. If this was correct, I would finally be reunited with my parents, after so many years; I had to go there, soon!

"Wait… your fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked snapping me out of my thoughts. It kind of just hit me when Weiss asked that, was Penny here to fight in the tournament? She seemed… unique enough to be a student of any of the academies, and she seemed formal enough to be one too.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny responded saluting.

"Are you now?" Cypher asked with his arms crossed.

"Yeah, but you hardly look the part" Weiss said with an eyebrow raise.

"Says the girl wearing a dress" Blake and Zinex pointed out, both with similar sarcastic tones. They both look each other for a split second, and then look away just as quickly from each other with Blake having a barely noticeable blush and Zinex without a single emotion plastered on his face.

"It's a combat skirt" Weiss said firmly standing her ground with her arms crossed. Ruby then zipped to the side of her in a similar position.

"Yeah!" Ruby said agreeing with her icy teammate. Weiss then, without turning around, reached her hand out for a high-five from the grim reaper-sniper, who smoothly returned it.

"Wait a second…" Weiss said as if she just realized something, walking forward to Penny. "... You were around the corner earlier, right? Then you know they went!" Weiss said grabbing her shoulders.

"Where who went?" Penny asked unsure about who Weiss was talking about.

"The filthy faunus from the docks" Weiss said holding her scroll out, which showed a video of the White Fang members getting away.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake asked obviously now agitated by Weiss' subjugation. Oh no, please don't head where I think this is heading. "Stop calling them rapscallions. Stop calling them degenerates. Even though what they're doing is illegal, they're still people."

"Yeah" Yato and I said in agreeance. While I do admit that the White Fang are a bunch of criminals that need to be detained, they're still people nonetheless. I curiously glanced to Zinex and Cypher, the other two humans who hadn't offered their opinions. Zinex was glancing at both of them with a unreadable expression, I couldn't tell what it was but the low glow in his eyes told me his brain was working hard. Cypher however seemed like he wanted to jump into this but was holding himself back, at least he held some self-control.

"Oh, I'm sorry" Weiss said sarcastically as she let go of Penny. "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trashcan, or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

"Stop it" Blake yelled in frustration. Stopping her foot.

"Stop what?!" Weiss asked genuinely confused.

"Shouldn't we stop this?" Ruby whispered to me so Weiss and Blake wouldn't hear her.

"Um… we should… uh…" I said unsure on what I should do. Now, while I would like to try and stop this argument, these two were scary when they were mad or upset. Especially Blake, those amber eyes of her's piece right through my soul sometimes, and it freaks me out.

They both argued for a few more seconds before Blake groaned "You ignorant little brat!" and stomped away from Weiss in a Huff.

"Hey Blake, she didn-" Yato started to say, but was quickly drowned out.

"How dare you talk to me like that. I am your teammate!" Weiss yelled before she caught up to her.

"Um… El Capi-tan, think it's best we go." Zinex said to me after being silent for a good few minutes, which was weird because he wasn't usually this silent.

"I agree with Z." Cypher said starting to get uncomfortable at this situation.

"Yeah… Let's" I said nodding in agreement. "Hey Ruby?" I said getting her attention, "We're going to now, we'll see you later, hopefully this ends by then" I said walking backwards away from them.

"Okay, bye guys" Ruby said waving to us, as she continued to watch her two teammates argue loudly.

"See ya…" Yato said as we got further and further from the group.

We all started to head back to Beacon in silence, for today was certainly weird. It was a good ten minutes later before anyone said anything. "So… that happened" Yato said finally breaking the silence.

"I thought it was a bit funny." Cypher said in a cheery mood, if there was one skill he had it was staying completely calm in crazy scenarios.

"Well all we can do is head home now. Right Aura? Aura?" Zinex said trying to grab my attention. But I wasn't paying attention to any of them, I was paying attention to the image Zinex had sent to me on my scroll. It was all I could really think about right now, how had the White Fang gotten my parents, and what had happened to them so many years ago? There were a lot of questions but not enough answers.

"Hey, Inari" Cypher said finally getting my attention. I looked up from the scroll to see them all looking at me worryingly, minus Zinex of course, who seemed to be completely in a different world.

"Hm? Oh, yeah sorry guys" I said putting the scroll in my pocket. "Listen, we need to talk about something later on guys. But first we need to head back to our dorm first." I said picking up the pace a bit. If I'm going to find out about this, I'm going to need some backup, and these guys are the backup.

 **Location: Team AYZC Dorm**

By the time we got back it was the evening, so we had plenty of time to ourselves. Zinex said he was going to the library to do research, Yato had promptly disappeared as we neared the dorm, and Cypher went to take a walk around campus, leaving me in the dorm by myself. During that time, all I did was continue to look at the image Zinex had sent me on the fang members scroll me earlier. I still couldn't believe the fact that not only my parents were not only here in Vale, but what if they were being held hostage by the White Fang. What would the White Fang need with them, why were they here of all places, and most importantly, would I be able to see them/meet them again.

I was knocked out my thoughts when I heard someone knock on the door. When I looked out the window, I saw that it was nighttime, was I really here contemplating about my parents for that long. I quickly got up and opened the door to reveal my teammates behind it. They all had varying expressions of tiredness, and irritation for that matter.

"Oh, hey guys" I said happily as I let them in. "You're here."

"Yeah, this is our room too." Yato said in irritation for seemingly no reason at all. "That and you told us to meet you here later, sorry we're late, thunderboy here took his time." He said taking a seat on his bed, pointing to Zinex who really didn't seem very happy and instead extremely annoyed.

"Just… don't." Zinex said closing his eyes and taking a breath. He seemed a whole different type of agitated, like he just wanted to be left alone.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Cypher asked looking at me with his arms crossed, in his normal serious tone.

"Ok… um… so you remember when we lost the bikers?" I said to him completely unsure on how to start this conversation. "Well, Zinex was able to snatch one of their scrolls."

"Ugh, yeah. Why?" Yato said obviously agitated at the event. He folded his arms then leaned back on one of the walls.

"I hacked the scroll and found an interesting image." Zinex said then turning to me, obviously telling me to take it from here. I couldn't help but notice his eyes seemed less bright than they normally did.

"What we had gotten was this" I said taking out my scroll and displayed the image. Yato and Cypher both looked at me with raised eyebrows, I guess it would make sense that I would have to explain it better. "And before you say it's just a warehouse, I know it is. But read the caption at top" I said pointing to said caption.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sharp…" Cypher said reading the caption out loud. "Wait… Sharp? Isn't tha-"

"My last name, yeah" I said seriously. Cypher and Yato paused for a moment. "I don't know why they have this, but what I do-"

"That warehouse… it looks familiar." Yato said seriously, interrupting me, which was weird because it's rare for Yato to sound so serious yet shaken.

"Familiar, what do you mea-" I tried to say but was unsuccessful.

"Just shut up! I'm trying to think!" Yato interrupted loudly, obviously mad this time. It was rare for Yato to ever be so aggressive without it being a joke.

"Ok then…" I said as I did what he said. For a moment we all just sat there in silence as we waited for Yato to put the pieces together. When he finally did, I could see his mood drop even more than it already had.

"So, it's that bitch Iris" Yato said with such anger and venom in his voice. I could see in his eyes pure hate.

"Wait, who's Bitch Iris?" Zinex asked curiously, though still with his sly grin. At least we could rely on him to keep the mood light even in the darkest of times.

"And why do you hate her?" Cypher then asked as a follow up, obviously confused.

"Lady Iris... is my mother, and she's a high-ranking member of the White Fang." Yato said to the surprise of everyone in the room. Was my teammate in-league with the White Fang? Wait…

"That was pretty climatic." Zinex muttered.

"Now before you-" Yato started to say but I didn't let him finish.

"YOUR MOTHER HAS MY PARENTS!?" I yelled in anger as I quickly dropped my scroll, grabbed Yato's shoulders, and looked at him dead in his soul with red eyes. He seemed rather startled from my sudden outburst, but quickly regained his demeanor.

"Maybe and let me go." he said roughly removing my arms. "My mother isn't someone I consider family. When I was young I discovered what the White Fang really was, what they really did, and I left my family. I haven't seen her in so long. Though I do know that warehouse, it's on the outskirts of Vale." He said with honesty in his eyes. I quickly calmed down and thought about it for a second, if Yato really was working for the White Fang, we would have known by now...at least I hoped so.

"The obvious question is what she would want with Aura's parents?" Zinex asked the question I wanted to ask to Yato.

"I don't know, but what do we do now?" He said sighing. He then asked. Everyone in the room turned to look at me, wanting a response or plan from me. On one hand, this was completely dangerous and could get us killed. On the other, I could get answers about what happened to my parents, if not meet them. In the end, I went with the only option, even if it wasn't the most logical.

"Tomorrow, we're going into town, finding that warehouse, and getting information.. I don't know my parents all that well, but this is my best shot in finding them. We have to go." I said leadingly, and they all nodded in agreeance with my plan. Man was I glad to not only have them as teammates, but also as friends.

"Yeah, let's do this" Yato said side flipping into his bed, stylishly if I may add.

"You guys enjoy your rest..." Zinex said standing up and heading to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Cypher asked sounding a little irritated. Zinex glanced back at us.

"I just have some… stuff to take care of" Zinex said sounding deflated. When I looked at his eyes, they were a dull, un-luminescent yellow. There was definitely something wrong, perhaps he had gone through something similar in the time that he had traveled to different world's but I could tell he wasn't going to be very forthcoming.

"Ok, see ya later bud" I said getting into my own bed to head off to sleep. Tomorrow, we get answers.

 **Zinex's PoV**

I shut the door behind me, then walked down the hall towards the exit of the building. As I reached the stairs I saw a figure of a women a bit transparent with jet black hair and glowing red eyes similar to Cyphers though… more sinister. I paid no mind to this person.

"You can't do it Zeno. You know that right?" Her voice cooed as I walked right past her. Guess the stairs wasn't an option today, well I got my exercise already. "Ignoring me won't make me go away."

"Talking to you won't either." I grumbled as I pressed the button for the elevator. The tanned woman walked beside me, with an evil grin on her face.

"How long will you continue this crusade 'Zinex'. You know you will only fail. It's in your nature to destroy. To kill." She said with a growl. I watched as the elevator doors opened.

"Fuck nature." I said then entered the elevator, but of course she had to follow.

"What would you team think of you if they knew? If they knew what you've done, how much blood's on your hands." The women cackled, filling the closing elevator. "Oh Zeno, you'll lose them too. Just like you always do, murdering them with your bare hands."

I simply said nothing.

"'Oh I'll change' what a misguided thought to have. You were born to kill. Born to attack. It's in your blood Zeno. What will happen when you fall in love again? Will you kill her too?"

"Leave me the fuck alone." I said, pushing her words out of my head. This just made her laugh more.

"'Torn between Dark, Torn between Light. Torn between Creation, Torn between Hunger.' How can you defy nature? How-"

"Like this." I said pressing my hand to the elevator wall, channeling electricity through the elevator as it began to move faster. Suddenly the women flew right through the ceiling, as we went down...though that didn't buy me much peace.

"Realy? That's a new one." The women muttered appearing back in the elevator as it slowed to a stop at the bottom, however the doors didn't open. "You see Zinex. Once you kill your new friends and maybe even your new lover. You'll run just like you always do. Just like the creature you are. I can't wait to be there when you rip them apart, when you-"

"Enough!" I yelled in pure anger as a bolt of pure purple lightning slammed into the poltergeist, knocking her clean to the ground as she began to dissolve.

"See… exactly my point." She said then disappeared, thank fucking finally. The doors to the elevator opened and I quickly exited, a tear of pure pain leaving my eye. The images of my arrival flashed through my mind as I walked out of the building waves of emotion piled on me as I walked. They couldn't find out, how would they react? They would be horrified...disgusted… they would hate me. I kept walking until I finally decided to look up

When I did I saw Blake, and she was standing in front of a large statue. The statue was of two figures, one a male and the other a younger-looking female, standing on a rock outcropping, and they were both dressed in a robe with hoods over their heads.

The male had a sword in his right hand, raised in a seemingly triumphant gesture. The younger female had a double-edged battle-ax in her left hand and looked off to the side into the distance. While I wasn't sure who they were, they must have been important. I then further noticed Blake in her black and white attire as she stared at the two statutes, but there was one thing that was different… the bow on her head was gone and replaced by a set of cat ears. While the shock did hit me hard, I wasn't very surprised. There were many instances she had unintentional hinted this, the biggest of which being today. For once I stood frozen, not sure what to say or what to do. I hadn't been to this place on campus before and honestly… I was lost. I decided I only had one choice.

"Not having the best of days either, huh?" I said approaching her and I could swear she flinched as if she'd been hit. She looked to me with a face of defeat, fear, and sadness all at the same time. I walked up next to her and leaned on the small fountain that stood where she was.

"Please don't look at me I… I-" Blake started to say but I just put a finger to my lips then looked at the water flowing slowly from the fountain.

"Just look at the water. Listen to the water. Let it fill your senses. Just… breathe." I said doing that very thing myself. I was nearly falling apart after that woman's little speech, but perhaps I could prove that bitch wrong. I wasn't going to break my promise.

"How can you be so calm?" She asked in a higher voice than usual, looking at me quickly. I turned to her and saw raw pain, raw fear. I smiled then turned to the water.

"Calm? You think being a faunus changes my view about you?" I asked her as I dipped my right hand into the water and began moving it back and forth slowly causing the water to move slowly.

"I lied to you… plus most humans-" She started to say but I laughed.

"I'm not like most humans." I said the show electricity through the water and arcs of yellow lightning shot through the water causing a beautiful light show that took Blake's words away. The lightning arced into seemingly random patterns, lighting up the fountain completely. As the arcs moved they began to form a picture that Blake was now noticing. Her mouth parted a little as the picture completely. In the clear water was a perfect portrait of her in electricity. I then took my hand out of the water and looked to her. "It doesn't matter if your Faunus or Human, your Blake to me. Nothing will change that."

"I-I… thanks." She sighed looking down at the water still. Watching the currents finally fade.

"Its no problem. I'm always here to help. If you ever need it...you know where I am." I said and with that I began to walk away. By now the memory of the woman was far gone and instead replaced by a smile of hope.

"Wait Zinex." I heard Blake call. I turned around and saw a more serious look on her face. "I think I do need your help."

I laughed a little then turned around and looked at Blakes yellow eyes. She looked a bit scared, confused, but somewhat determined. I could tell just by looking at her that she had a plan. I held her gaze then spoke. "Where do we start?"


	13. Chapter 13: Chaos

**Time: 9:00**

 **Location: A Cafe Somewhere in Vale**

 **Zinex's Pov**

The Waiter delivered our drinks as the sun began to rise, casting light over the table we were sitting at. I glanced at Blake in front of me who had been quite silent for the time we had been together, she seemed to be having conflict in her eyes...in her mind. I looked around us and saw no one around, it was the perfect place to have a discussion. I stretched in uncomfortableness and we had honestly slept on the rooftops in Vale, since she had accidentally told her friends she was a faunus...I understood that fear.

"How come your drinking tea? Wouldn't coffee be better right now? We've been up all night." Blake asked me in a sort of bland tone as she took a drink of her coffee, guess she hadn't slept very well either. I sipped my tea, then looked into its greenish color.

"I'm not that tired to be honest, plus tea soothes me." I said as I continued to stare into the green tea. Luckily for me my power was lightning and I could sustain myself for a couple days off just my body's produced electricity. It might make me a bit off and a little weaker but worse things would have happened if I had drank coffee… bad things.

"Hm." She muttered taking another drink from her coffee then sighing, closing her eyes. "Have you ever heard of the White Fang?"

"A little, from what I've seen they're terrorists who attack innocent for no reason. Assclowns if you ask me." I said sipping my tea once again, which soothed a headache that was beginning to form in the back of my head. I on purpose didn't mention what I had found on that White Fang about possibly Aura's parents.

"I was a part of the White Fang." She said rather bluntly, her voice filled with raw emotions of what appeared to be fear. She then opened her eyes and looked at me, as if afraid I was going to do something.

"Was?" I asked slowly. She then took another deep breath and told me her story. How she had been in the White Fang nearly her whole life, protesting Human aggression and discrimination but how it had turned violent after their old leader stepped down. She told me of the destruction they had caused, the things they had stolen. When she finished she looked down in a sort of shame. As I digested her story, I could feel for her pain. She and I had a lot in common...a lot of regrets.

"That's… my story. That's why I wanted to become a huntress, to use my skills for good. But here I am...a criminal. In plain sight." She said finishing her coffee then looking out at the road below, obviously unhappy.

"You made the decision to leave, that shows your character more than being in it does." I said, admiring her bravery. She had done something so quickly that I still hadn't achieved yet. She looked back at me, honestly surprised that I hadn't called her out. Guess it wasn't everyday in this place that a human acted the way I did. "Look, I've had similar experiences. I understand what it's like."

"What is your story?" She asked bluntly, probably more asking why I wasn't mad, as I too finished my drink.

"You want to know my story…" I said reluctantly. I couldn't tell her everything, she would hate me. I couldn't tell her exactly what I had told Aura either, he barely believed it how could she? I took a breath, thought for a moment, then looked into her piercing eyes then formed my words.

"Where I was from… I wasn't exactly good. Like you I… I thought I was doing the right thing. Doing things I felt were right but then I began to see this evil inside me, this…" I paused thinking of the very thing I hoped I had destroyed when I had got here. I sighed then continued. "Darkness. All I wanted to do was use these powers, my Semblance, to destroy… to destroy things I thought were bad, but it turned out… I was the one turning bad. I fought hard against that darkness for a long time, longer than you could believe and even though I think it's gone… I can't help but fear what I had done… what I could do...what I wanted to do. All i wanted- no. All I want is to do good. To become better than I was, to save people, much like you felt in the White Fang. I knew I had to be destined for more than destruction, for more than just evil."

"Wow" Blake said taking it all in, I guess she hadn't expected that. "Guess we both know what it's like..."

"That's one way of describing it." I said, then wondered what our plan of action was. She had basically led me all this way without exactly telling me what we were up to. "So… what now?"

"Now…" she said getting up from her seat, walking to the railing of the rooftop cafe and looking towards the road. "... We go get answers"

"Seems like a plan." I said joining her at the balcony, I looked around and a thought popped into my head. "But where are we going to go find the answers?"

"The docks. It's the best place to prove the White Fang isn't behind all these robberies, they have never needed this much dust before." Blake said as she glanced off into the distance.

"That would be a good place to start, if anyone wanted a lot of dust they would go to the docks." I said in agreeance. She then pulled out her weapons, which were quite the weapons if I had to say.

"Hope you can keep up with me" She said in a rather playful tone. Before I could ask what she meant by that, her blade shot out at the rooftop across from us and she disappeared from my side, flying right towards the other rooftop.

"Oh really?" I asked with a grin then filtering lightning through my coat and it turned into the black armor, minus the helmet. I took off quickly, flying right past her onto the rooftop. Her grin faded as she reached the rooftop as well and saw me in the armor.

"How did you…" She started to ask.

"Come on" I said laughing at her as I once again ascended into the air and flew towards the next rooftop.

"Hey, that's so cheating!" Blake called from below trying to catch up to me.

"It's not cheating, you're just slow." I called down as I landed on yet another roof, she reached it a few seconds later a little out of breath.

"You're a jerk you know that?" Blake asked with a small laugh.

"Fine then, I got an idea." I said grabbing her around her torso then taking off. She screamed for a second, completely not seeing it coming.

"Are you serious, we're so high!" She yelled over the wind, fear definitely creeping into her voice as she gripped onto a little gap in my armor where my back was. It was supposed to be a place to store my sword but that was unnecessary now.

"But won't you just land on your feet?" I asked with a sarcastic tone and she smacked my armor.

"Oh shut up." She said with a laugh as we headed to the docks.

 **Aura's Pov**

 **Timeskip: Noon**

"Blaaaake!? Ziiiiinex!?" I shouted, hoping to find either of the two. It was the next day, and I was here with Cypher, Yato, and the remaining members of Team RWBY, looking for our missing comrades. It worried me that Zinex hadn't returned last night, but when I found out from Ruby that Blake had left too, that made it worse. What had happened to the two of them?

"Blaaaake?! Ziiiiinex?!" Ruby, Yang and Yato shouted looking for the two as well. I looked back to see if Weiss or Cypher were helping. Cypher was looking around at various windows, to see of either were inside. Weiss, however, wasn't looking around at all; she was just following us with an irritated look on her face. Did she honestly not care for her teammate?

"Come on Weiss, can you at least try and help" I said irritated and worried for our friends. "Even Cypher's helping, and he's just looking through windows!"

"Watch it Inari" Cypher threatened, not that it phased me. "I'll shove a fireball-"

"Oh! You know who might be able to help?" Weiss interrupted sounding just as irritated as I was. I though assumed it was for a different reason.

"Who?" Cypher said with a slight fire in his eyes. Guess the guy was starting to get fed up with her too.

"The police" Weiss answered sounding serious. Everyone in the group sighed in irritation

"No… just no…" Yato said in disappointment, facepalming.

"Ugh, Weiss…" Ruby growled in frustration about her teammates insensitiveness. How does Ruby put up with her!?

"It was just a suggestion!" Weiss said irritating me even more. I swear, I'm going to need to vent at some point.

"Yeah, a bad one" Ruby muttered as she lead the group.

"You, have issues. Seriously" I said turning around to face her for a second to say that to her smug, bratty face.

"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions" Yang said being sensible, what did she mean by 'side of the story.'

"Yeah, we should at least give her the benefit of the doubt" Ruby said agreeing with Yang. I was still completely lost.

"I think when we hear it, you'll all realize I was right" Weiss said with arrogance. I wasn't quite sure what they were all talking about but Weiss just continued to be herself, which pissed me off.

"And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!" I heard a familiar voice that I only heard yesterday cheer out from behind, startling the six of us. We all turned around to see that Penny had appeared behind us.

"Agh! Penny! Where did you come from!?" Ruby asked quickly, obviously startled.

"And… how… do you keep doing that?" Yato asked clutching his chest, breathing heavy.

"Do what?" Penny asked as if she didn't know, seriously how does she keep popping out of nowhere. It's like Zinex was teaching everyone his tricks."So what are you all up to?"

"Uuuhhhh…" Ruby started, obviously not sure how to answer her question.

"Were looking for our friend Blake" Yang said without a pause, answering for Ruby.

"And Zinex" Cypher added mentioning the lightning haired guy.

"Oooh! You mean that electric guy and the Faunus girl" Penny said to the surprise of all of us. We were all silent, but I could tell our minds were blown a bit there. A faunus? Blake was a faunus? I couldn't believe my ears. I glanced at both Cypher and Yato and they too seemed very surprised.

"Wait. How did you know that?" Ruby asked questioning Penny. Yeah, how did she know? We just found out today/last night.

"Uh, the cat ears" Penny responded pointing to the top of her head. Wait did she?

"What cat ears? She always wears a…" I said putting the pieces together. "The bow hides her cat ears…"

"She does like tuna a lot" Ruby whispered to Yang and me, however, I just growled and whimpered at myself for my own stupidity. I looked up with a sighed and saw something streaking in the sky, I narrowed my eyes but even I couldn't see that high. Could it be…

"So, where is she?" Penny asked continuing the conversation.

"We don't know" Ruby said glumly.

"They've both been missing since yesterday" I said watching the streak in the sky disappear over a building.

"Oh, that's terrible" Penny said as she walked up to Ruby and grabbed her shoulders. "Well don't you worry Ruby, I will help you find them"

"Uh ha, there's no need Penny" she said trying to get rid of Penny. "We have it all under control, right guys?" I waited for a response, but it didn't come. I turned around to see that everyone had somehow disappeared. How the hell did they do that?!

"Come on, let's go guys" Ruby said sighing in defeat as she began walking down the street again.

"I'll keep an ear out for them" I said as I moved both of my fox ears around so I could hear further out.

"What do you…" Ruby began as she turned around to look at me, just to see me pointing my fox ears. "Oh right."

She said as she walked over to me and did the one thing that I hate people do to me. She reached up, and started to pet my ears; it's not like I dislike this, my family used to do this when one of us were upset. But it was just the fact that she would sneak up on me and pet my ears out of nowhere.

"Ru- Ruby" I stammered trying to tell her to stop. But I couldn't even get three words out before I felt another pair of hands gently grab all nine of my tails and start to comb through them. I turned around to see that Penny was the one doing this. "P- Penny!" I barely got out because of Ruby's ear scratching.

"Fascinating" Penny said in amusement as she continued to go through my tails. "You not only have nine tails, but you also seem to have control over all of them. How is that so?"

Bad touch, very bad touch, I had to get out of this right now. I quickly rolled forward, getting out of Ruby's petting hands, and Penny's analytics grasp. I turned around to look at the two, who looked at me with confused expressions on their faces. "Remember what I said, Ruby?" I asked with my arms crossed. "... And to answer your question Penny, I don't know how it's possible, it just is."

"Oh, right. Ruby said while blushing, remembering what I told her about this. "Sorry."

"Anyway, let's get going" I said rushing ahead to not only look for our friends, but to also get out of arm's reach from those two. Where are you guys?

 **Yato's Pov**

 **Timeskip: Sunset**

"Blake!? Zinex" Yang and I continued to shouted as we looked for our missing teammates. While Yang had told me why Blake had run, we still didn't know why Zinex had.

"Ugh come on guys! It's starting to get late, and I'd rather not spend tomorrow in my room all day" Yang yelled getting frustrated with how long we've been searching. Seriously, what point was there to disappearing like that? We could have talked it out.

"They're not down here" I said sighing turning the corner to the next street. "Come on, let's try down here"

I wished I wasn't here. It wasn't like I wasn't worried for Zinex and Blake, I really was. But the problem was who I was searching for them with. As soon as Penny was distracted by Aura and Ruby, Yang grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me in the opposite direction to look for them.

"Hey, Yato" Yang said breaking my train of thought. "Can we talk? About wha-"

"So where do you think Blake and Zinex are?" I asked quickly, wanting to change the upcoming subject as quickly as possibly. I kind of knew what she wanted to talk about, but I didn't want to talk about what happened two days ago. My nerves were so high, I knew I was breathing heavily.

"I don't know, but listen Yato, about what ha-" Yang said trying to get her point out again but I seriously didn't want to talk about it.

"Well, the tank of the team says we should keep looking" I said just as fast as before, and started to walk a bit faster.

"Yes, we should. But Yato-" She tried once more, she really was heavy about it.

"Then come on, who knows whe-" I tried to interrupt again, but then Yang pulled out something that scared me even more than the kiss itself had.

"YATO" Yang yelled furiously to my surprise. Shaking, I turned around to see a very angry Yang, evidenced by the fact her eyes were a fiery red, her hair glowing a brighter tint of yellow, and an intense heat radiating off of her.

"Yes..." I responded fearfully, in the most innocent tone I could. I had seen Yang angry before, but it wasn't at me. She seemed even angrier than I had seen her, which seriously didn't help my nerves.

"Listen…" she said taking a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking again. She then looked off to the side to hide her blush, that was quite obviously forming. "About what happened two nights ago… "

"Oh no…" I muttered, screw me being right. She took another deep breath.

"Yato I just want to...I just want to..I really-" She started to say but I answered for her. I jumped forward and pushed my lips against hers, her eyes opened wide but she quickly gave into the kiss. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer. We both knew where we were going, we knew what this meant. We both were in agreement as we gave into our feelings, as we both felt the emotions flowing between us. No longer would we hold back, we would be the ultimate team, two people bound together. We were in love, there was not a doubt about it. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the cloud I know was on, the cloud of pure bliss.

 **Cypher's Pov**

 **Timeskip: Moonrise**

"How dare they talk to me like that! I'm not the one who was part of the White Fang" Weiss complained as we walked around looking for Blake and Zinex. Or at least I was, now I see why Aura and Yato hate her so, she's a bitch! It wasn't even my intention to get stuck with her in the first place! Yato, Yang Weiss, and I were able to get away from Aura, Penny, and Ruby without them noticing. I saw Yang drag Yato off in random direction, leaving me with Ice-queen here, which was one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

"This is why I don't trust faunus, they're untrustworthy, filthy, no good -" she starting ranting again, not that I would let her. I didn't really care about the stupid politics of humans or faunus, that wasn't what mattered.

"Shut up" I muttered angrily just loud enough so she could hear me.

"Excuse me!? How dare you-" she said attempting to speak again but I quickly shut it down.

"I said shut up!" I yelled at her, not caring if I was heard or not. I felt myself heat up as my semblance activated from rage, not that I minded, I just wanted her to shut the hell up. "You agnostic, egotistical little brat! Do you have any idea how angering it is to hear you say that!?"

"But it's tr-" she said trying to voice her opinion on the matter.

"It's not true!" I shouted interrupting her again and my semblance increasing my heat. "You're just basing your views on faunus based on your shitty experiences and what you heard while in Atlus. Tell me, is Aura, as you described, untrustworthy?"

"Well… no, but-" She started to say obviously surprised.

"Is Yato untrustworthy?" I said naming my monkey faunus friend.

"Well, he is a bit vulgar…" Weiss said looking off to the side.

"But…" I said badgering for an answer, calming down quite a bit.

"No" she sighed in guilty defeat, not meeting my eyes.

"And now Blake's practically revealed that she's a faunus-" I started to say but was cut off my Weiss shooting another glare at me.

"And a was member of the White Fang!" Weiss yelled interrupting me. Wait she was a member of the White Fang?

"So what if she was a member, she's not now is she?" I said not as surely. I had some bad experiences with the White Fang but I had never observed Blake to be anything like that group.

"No, bu-" Weiss started but I cut her off.

"Exactly! She has done nothing but be a great teammate. The fact that you're so stubborn shows how stuck up and spoiled you are. So quit your bitching, get over it, and help us find her!" I finished with my anger erupting. Judging by the look of Weiss, I had made my point effectively clear, she was leaning back shaking in fear, and she was sweating profusely. Realising I must have lt my semblance get out of control I tried a trick Zinex had taught me, I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths to calm down. After I recollected myself I looked up to see that the moon had started to rise, we had to find them soon. "Come on, let's hurry." I said as I held my hand out to her.

"R- Right" she said taking my hand, and with that, we ran through the city in a hurry, in hopes to find our friends.

 **Zinex Pov**

 **Location: Vale Shipyard**

"Well isn't this anticlimactic?" I yawned as I watched the docks. It was already night and nothing had happened since we had gotten on this little building where we could see the shipyard.

"I knew they couldn't be a part of all this dust theft, it just didn't seem-" Blake started to say but before she could finished a huge gust of wind battered us, nearly blowing me off, as I had been sitting on the edge of the building. I looked up and saw a helicopter flying past us then come to a landing in the middle of the shipyard. The doors on the helicopter opened and a few people, seemingly faunus, wearing Grimm-like masks and wearing white vests with what looked to be a beowolf with claw marks going across it as its pattern. "Oh no…"

"Spoke too soon?" I asked with a grin on my face but it appeared she really wasn't in the mood for joking. Her face was filled with disbelief and shock as she watched the White Fang members walk out of the helicopter. "You really didn't see this coming."

"I just...I hoped you weren't right." She said slowly.

"Hey what's the hold up?" I manage to hear a voice call from the distance, inside the heli. Walking out from the heli was a man who wore a long white coat, black pants and a red and black hat. I knew who this man was just based off his appearance, I had seen him all over the news.

"Something isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not that human." Blake said in utter surprise and I had to agree, he did not seem like the type of guy to be leading anything. Without warning Blake stood up then pulled out her weapon and jumped off the building, landing safely on the ground then bolting off towards where Roman was.

"Some warning next time…" I complained as I got up then too jumped off the building, my metal boots cracking the ground as they hit it. Oh how I always loved doing that even if it did jar me for a second. I then sprinted towards where I had seen Blake go only to have a gust of wind push me back so I ran slower. I glanced up and saw two more helicopters joining the party, great the more merrier. As I reached where I though Blake was, I heard an explosion then saw Blake fly past me followed by the ground exploding in my face as she dodged explosion after explosion. I leapt out from my little spot then looked at Roman with a grin. "Hey how's it going."

"Oh great nice of you to join, you going to make me very happy when you die." He said pointing his cane at me but I jolted to the side before he could fire and sliced out with my sword but he was quicker and blocked it. I led a barrage of slices and attacks but not a single shot hit his body, before I could continue however Blake flew above my head and kicked him in the face.

"He's mine!" Blake yelled. Before I could react however, I felt my collar tighten then I was ripped back and thrown into a crate. I stood up with a groaned, stretched a little, then looked around and saw a wolf faunus with a giant hammer wearing beat up brown travelers clothes.

"Hammer? Really?" I said rolling my eyes. "Fine I guess I'll have to settle for you."

"Arrogant little-" He started to growl but I vaulted forward, making him put up an improper defense. He pulled up his hammer, leaving his legs exposed. I slammed my foot into his right leg, causing him to growl louder and stumble back. I swung my sword at his arm but the big square mallet piece was there, creating this loud clanging sound.

"Nice hammer you got there, but it seems too big." I said analyzing it as he swung at me, I quickly jumped back and sliced out catching his stomach, pushing him back a few feet.

"I'll show you." He growled in anger then swung his hammer down on the ground causing me to lose my balance as he slammed me in the chest with the other end of the hammer. This once again sent me flying into a shipping crate, denting it a bit and seriously making me dizzy.

"Great, I just love the feel of metal." I muttered sarcastically as I got up and looked back towards my opponent and saw his mallet had a barrel of a gun pointed at me with what seemed to be a missile sitting inside. "You gotta be..."

"Stop now and I won't kill you." He said in a gruff voice but I just laughed, really? He thought it would be that easy?

"Dude it's lovely when people just don't know." I said then summoned a ball of lightning into my hand and threw it into the guys mallet, triggering the ammunition to rip the mallet itself apart with a loud roar. The guy was knocked clean of the explosion, so much so that I couldn't spot him when the smoke cleared. I the grabbed my sword off of the ground and wiped myself of debris. "Sorry bout your hammer bro!"

"Now, where's-" I started to say before I heard explosions and the ripping of metal. I looked up to see a wide, bright green laser being fired up at the bullheads trying to take off. "That's one way of getting them to go away."

I looked up more seeing the lasers rip through two of the heli's but before the laser could come back, one sped off. If my gut feeling was right, Roman the as on that one. I points my hand up, focused some energy then fired it at the ship. The heli shot to the side quickly, avoiding the blast.

"Dammit." I muttered.

"Zinex? Zinex…" I heard Blake yell in the distance. Guess I should head back.

 **Aura's Pov**

"Zinex!" Cypher, Yato, and I all shouted as we saw Zinex look over to the shipping yard. After me and Ruby were knocked away from the fight in the shipping yard, and witnessed… what Penny had did to the White Fang bullheads, we reunited with our respective teams, minus Penny who just disappeared… again.

"Hey, how's it going?" Zinex asked walking from seemingly nowhere as if nothing was wrong, even though I had seen most of what had happened here. Seriously he had to teach me that trick.

"How's it going? What do you mean how's it going!?" Cypher yelled in anger and fatigue. "We've been looking for you for hours, what happened!?"

"Well…" He said, as nonchalantly as possible looking off towards Team Ruby. "I helped Blake with some problems, defeated some White Fang dudes, dealt with some personal problems, and had a good time."

"A good time? A GOOD TI-" Yato said starting to yell as anger filled his face, but Cypher quickly covered his mouth with his hand. Yato glared at Cypher, who glared back with the same intensity. The stared at each other for a few seconds before they started fighting each other intensely; it started off with yelling, but it then escalated to various punches, kicks, flames and mini explosions. No wanting to get caught in the crossfire, Zinex and I backed away from the two, and watched the carnage.

"Yeesh" I said watching the two go at it, They seemed really into their little argument. I turned to Zinex, who didn't really seem to be paying very much attention to them. "They must be having fun, huh Zinex"

"Yeah…" He said sounding kinda lost in thought, he then turned to me quickly with an apology in his eyes. "Hey listen, I-"

"Save it" I said interrupting him by putting a hand up, I didn't need an apology. I put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, I don't care if you're going through some personal stuff, or if you're doubting yourself, or even if you murdered someone; just tell us. Just don't ever run away. We're your team, to me you all are my family, running away only scares us."

"Yeah" I heard Yato say, I turned around to see that Cypher and Yato had stopped fighting; but they had scorch marks and holes in their clothes and their hair were in a mess. Yato then got a goofy smile on his face, but the sincerity was definitely there. "We're are team, and a team needs to stick together"

"And if one of us has a problem…" Cypher said looking to both Yato and I.

"Then we all do" I said with the other two nodding. I looked to Zinex and he seemed to have a happy smile on his face but I could definitely see a pain in his eyes. I knew there was something going on within his head, I couldn't explain how I knew but I just did. I wasn't going to pressure him to tell us, I would give him the chance to.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks guys" He said with a small laugh as he glanced back to the shipyard before turning back to us. "Guess it's time we finally get back to school, we're probably in so much trouble."

"No prob" I said as I stretched and yawned, I was pretty late, guess it's time to head back.

"Oh no, please no more of Glynda's punishments." Yato said with a groan with Cypher seconding that. Seriously, what was so bad about Glynda's punishments? Before we could go however, Weiss approached us with the rest of her team standing just a little away.

"Aura, Yato…" Weiss started actually not sounding superior for once, she sounded genuinely sincere.

"Yes?" We both said kind of surprised at her tone of voice.

"I'm… sorry if I've offended you in anyway the past few months. I miss judged you and all faunus, I guess the reason I've acted the way I have is because of how hard the White Fang has made my life" She said to us apologizing. I looked into her eyes, and I could tell she really felt sorry for what she had done… maybe some good had come out of this event. She then held her hand out. "I want to to start over, so if it's ok, can we?"

There was a pause that seemed to last for awhile, her apology seemed sincere and well meant. Before I could say or do anything, Yato reached out and shook it.

"Apology accepted." he said as he shook her hand with his free hand, I also noticed a smile on his face. After they were done, everyone looked over at me.

"Aura?" Weiss said as she held her hand out to me now in apology. I paused for a second and thought, then came to a conclusion.

"Ok, listen…" I said holding my hand up. "Before I do, I have PLENTY to say to you. But before I do...Yang cover Ruby's ears." I said turning towards Yang and Yato.

"Why?" Yang, Yato, and Ruby asked me confused, what I was about to say didn't need to be heard by Ruby.

"Just do it, trust me" I said looking over to them with my eyes red, they both took it as a sign and did as I said. When I was sure Ruby couldn't hear me, I turned over to Weiss to begin my outburst. "Weiss Schnee... Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, do you have ANY- OW."

"What he means to say is that he forgives you." Zinex said sliding next to me as an electrical shock went through me. I growled at him.

"That not what I was-" I started to say but yet another shock went through me. Seriously Zinex?

"Sure it is right Aura?" Zinex asked with an intensity in his eyes. For fear of yet another shock, I turned to Weiss and skipped over the rant I so longed to give her.

"...You honestly make me sick to think about, however…" I started to finish as I grabbed her hand. "...That doesn't mean you haven't or won't change, I'll be willing to give you a fresh start."

"Thanks Aura…" Weiss said with a surprisingly warm smile.

"Ok, now we can head back." Yato said as he and Yang lead the way back, with all of us in tow. Even though we all had our secrets, things we'd rather hide, we still were a team. We were all together, hopefully forever.

"So when's the Yang-Bang going to happen" Zinex said in the most sarcastic tone I had ever heard.

"You little-" Yang said, her eyes turning red as she glared at Zinex. She jumped at Zinex but he slipped to the side then ran forward.

"Gotta be quicker than that." He said with a laugh and Yang chased after him. The rest of us began laughing as well, as we just watched the chase. Man I love these guys.

 **3rd Person Pov**

 **Location: White Fang Camp**

"WHAT!?" Adam yelled in anger as Gerald told his superiors what happened. He himself was not looking okay, his worn travellers cloths had tons of burns and little holes, not to mention his hands were wrapped in bandages burns filling his hands.. He was shaking in fear, afraid of what would happened to him if he were to repeat himself. He was also angry at himself as well, why had he even try to spare that lightning haired human? He should have known...

"I- It's as I said sir and ma'am…" He began in fear, taking a gulp "... Blake Belladonna and Zinex came to the warehouse, detained most of our cadets, and were able to stop us from lifting several containers of dust."

"And the bullheads already full of dust?" Iris asked with ice in his voice and a glare in her eyes. This alone made Gerald shake in fear again.

"Th- They were brought down, and the dust onboard was u- unfortunately… destroyed…" He said as he finished his report. He closed his eyes and bowed his head waiting for his punishment, but it didn't happen. He opened his eyes and looked up to see that Lady Iris disappeared, but before he could look round for her, he received a fast and firm smack across his face, knocking him to the ground. He tried to get up, but he was stomped back down by a pair of heels. He groaned in pain.

"You incompetent, insignificant, waste of a faunus!" Lady Iris yelled as she stomped on his back furiously, putting him in even more pain than he already was in. "You had one job, and yet you failed at that!?"

"Maybe we should put him out of his misery" Adam said as he started to unsheathe his sword.

"N- No, give me another chance" Gerald begged. "Please I won't fail you again! I h-have information!"

"Information?" Lady Iris said as she looked up at Adam, who just watched her, with his blade partially unsheathed, waiting for a response. "Very well, We will determine whether you live or die based on this."

"Blake Belladonna and Zinex, they seem to be romantically interested in each other." He said holding up a scroll which showed Zinex forming a perfect picture of Blake's head in the water with electricity. Iris looked at it first then her eyes widened as she handed it to Adam. He looked over it with a serious face.

"Spare him." Adam said pulling his sword out of his shethe, the red filling the room. "There's a certain human I am going to shred to pieces."

"Oh, thank you la-" he tried to say before he was pushed down on harder by Iris who had regained her angry face.

"However, fail us again, and this will be twice as painful" Lady Iris said as she gestured for Adam to come closer. Adam then stalked closer to Gerald whose eyes were wide with fear.

"What do you mea-" Gerald began before he had his right lower calf cut off by Adam. He screamed in pain and agony as he started to violently bleed out.

"Here's a little reminder of what happens when you fail us." Lady Iris said with a deranged smile as she finally removed her from his back. "Don't worry, we'll let you live, for now."

"Someone come here and take him to the infirmary." Adam yelled loudly over his screaming victim, anger filling his voice. Two White Fang cadets came and took him out the room, leaving Iris and Adam alone in the room.

"What do we do now?" Iris asked the extremely angry Adam as he wiped blood from his blade.

"Now…" Adam said as she walked over and took a seat again. "Now we change our plans… After the wolf gets out of the infirmary, I want him to closely study Blake and Zinex. I want to know everything."

"Yes sir, and as for our other plan?" Iris asked, Adam laughed a pure insane laugh.

"Continue with it, those idiots will not know what hit them." Adam said as he sheathed his blade, then exited the room.


	14. Chapter 14: Misguided

**A Semester Later**

 **Location: Beacon Mess Hall**

 **Aura POV**

"Jeez Zinex can you look up from your scroll ever?" Yato asked trying to get Zinex's attention as he was reading something from his scroll. This was something that he had been doing as of recent, always on his scroll. Zinex glanced up at Yato with a sly grin on his face. I couldn't believe it had only been a semester since we all met, if felt like we had known each other for years...in fact I felt like we were brothers now.

"Can you ever look away from Yang for a second." Zinex asked Yato, who grimaced broadly. I chuckled a bit at Zinex's antics, as he looked back down at his scroll. He then shoved some fried rice into his mouth, which he seemed to eat a lot.

"I'm not with her today am I?" Yato asked back with a sort of 'aha' look. I then chose to enter the conversation.

"Isn't that because she said she wanted to spend some time with her sister?" I asked with a smile on my face as Yato's glare shot to me.

"Shut up!" Yato said loudly, then looked back to Zinex who was still reading off of his scroll.

"What are you doing Zinex? Yato has a point. You've been doing more reading than talking." Cypher pointed out not letting the conversation drop, Zinex rolled his eyes. I had my own theories of what was going on, things that had to do with his abnormal origins. Zinex looked up with a sly grin, broader than he had just a few seconds ago.

"Say's the guy who-" Zinex started to say but a fireball from a nearby candle flew from its wick, grew in size, then slammed into the table in front of Zinex making him flinch, which was something I had never seen before. He looked up with a look of false betrayal, barely hiding a comedic smile. "Hey… I taught you that, and you use it on me? I trusted you. You were my brother Cypher-"

"Well you were goi-" Cypher tried to complain but a lightning bolt dropped right in front of his face making him literally fall out of his seat. Zinex started laughing heavily.

"There you go." I chuckled as Yato helped Cypher up, who was cussing quite a lot.

"Yeah…" Yato said with a wide grin at Cypher's pain. "But seriously, what are you doing?"

"Remember the White Fang scroll I picked up a while back." Zinex asked, looking up at us, referring to the scroll that had given us the image of warehouse that can contain my missing parents.

"Yeah?" Yato said growling slightly, I guess he still isn't happy about his mother being here in Vale. Not that I was paying attention much, I was more focused on Team's RWBY and JNPR since they were much more entertaining at the moment; Ruby was giving a speech to her teammates while Yang was catching food in her mouth, which was being thrown at her by Nora. It was going fine until Nora threw an apple at Yang when she wasn't looking, who just threw it back. Well, that wasn't going to end well.

"Well I've been working on breaking through layers of firewalls as you would say and while most of the things that are on here are stupid, there is some interesting information." Zinex said then glanced back down to the scroll, scanning it once again. "For instance I just found that the location of the warehouse from the picture is somewhere on the southern outskirts of Vale. It's also called Transference as some sort of cover-"

"We should go." I said fearfully as my eyes started to widen. I was right, this was going to happening.

"But he isn't done talking." Cypher said not quite understanding the situation at hand as he couldn't see it... Just a second later, something large flew above all of our heads, and hit the abnormally strong window. We all turned around to see Jaune splattered against the wall of the mess hall.

"Hey Jaune, hanging around okay?" Zinex asked turning to face him as he slid down the wall.

"Yeah just fine." Jaune responded in obvious pain.

"Glad to hear that buddy." Zinex said with a grin. We all then got up and ran for the door. We just got away from the mess hall, only to be almost ran over by the dozens of other students fleeing the scene. Talk about the mother of all food fights.

"Well, that was something…" Yato said as more food was splattered across the window. I was still surprised by its superior strength.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" I asked worryingly as I looked through the window to see what was happening. All tables on the right side were stacked in a tower, which had Team JNPR on it, Team Ruby were on the opposite side of the Mess Hall ready to fight, and between them all was a mess of food.

"Course, their some of the best fighters I've ever seen." Zinex said reassuringly as we walked off, from the lunchroom. Zinex then got a serious expression on his face as he glanced at all of us, clapping his hands together which created a loud popping noise. "Anyway guys, time for a Real Talk."

"To the dorm!" Yato cheered as we started to walk off with a wide grin on his face. As we walked towards the dorm, I heard someone behind us.

"Hey, Aura!" Someone called. I turned around to see Velvet, the bunny faunus, waving to me, I noticed she was also standing next to someone else. The girl was slightly taller than Velvet and had had short, wavy dark-brown hair. She wore a bracelet with black roses as decoration, which were accompanied by black gloves and necklaces. She also wore a beret of a darker brown and a pair of black, wire-rimmed aviator sunglasses. She was holding a black shoulder bag with gold studs, which was held by a bandolier strap. Man… Serenity had taught me well.

"I'll see you guys at the dorm, I need to say hi." I said pointing to Velvet and her friend. They all looked at me and just laughed. "What?"

"Oh, nothing" Cypher said with a grin of pure humor as I frowned, I don't know why they all had similar grins.

"Have fun Romeo." Yato waved as he began walking to the dorm again. It took my brain a minute to register what he had meant by that, and when I did finally grasp what he meant I just blushed and groaned.

"Oh come on, it's not like that!" I shouted back to them flustered and annoyed, but none of them turned around to face me.

"Sure it wasn't" Zinex yelled sarcastically, as he waved. I just sighed and began walking to Velvet and her friend.

"Hey Velv." I greeted the nervous girl, who seemed to be shifting around rather uncomfortably.

"Hi Aura" She said kindly, yet nervously, with a giggle. "Aura, I would like you to meet my friend and teammate, and leader of team CFVY, Coco Adel" She said gesturing to her friend/leader named Coco, who held her hand out.

"Coco Adel." She said formally introducing herself as I shook her hand, she had quite the powerful grip.

"Aura Sharp." I said introducing myself to her. I waited for a laugh, even a chuckle, but it didn't come. I was immediately awestruck at the fact that she didn't even smile when she heard my name. "Wait… you didn't laugh at my name."

"No, I did. Velvet told me about you a while ago." I looked over to Velvet to see if this was true, to see her looking to the side rubbing her shoulder, I guess it was. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you for helping Velvet with Cardin Winchester, and for teaching him a lesson as well a while ago."

"It was no problem, really" I reassured with a warm smile.

"Ah, polite, smart, cute. I see why you went to him first Vel" Coco said nudging her friend, who was blushing madly. Again, it took my brain a second before putting the pieces together again, before I began blushing madly as well.

"It's. Not. Like that!" I fussed, obviously flustered by the fact that everyone in both our teams thinks we're together.

"Yeah yeah, anyway, we gotta go." She said turning around, grabbing Velvet by the arm and walking off. "Nice to meet you Aura"

"Same with you Coco" I said with a bow. "Bye Velvet."

"Bye Aura" Velvet said waving back at me. So that was Velvet's teammate? She seemed like a nice person. Realizing that I had plans of my own, I began to run back to my dorm, knowing that we had to discuss the plan of entrance into the warehouse.

 **Timeskip: Night**

 **Location: Team AYZC Dorm**

"So that's the plan, right?" Yato asked in a shaky voice as he seemed a bit confused about how our plan was going down.

"Yes, It's as Zinex said" I began to explain again for Yato's sake as well as mine. We had discussed so much it was hard to keep track. "We have enough information about the warehouse, so infiltration should be easy."

"Finally, we get to show these idiots whose boss." Cypher said cracking his knuckles as he chuckled a bit. Cypher was currently packing things for our plan to work. He was laying out black clothes for us as well so that we would be hidden.

"And thanks to our White Fang friend we have the location of their secret entrance to the building. All we need to do is get through these secret tunnels and we'll be there. That should keep us blind to the outside cameras." Zinex explained as he laid out a paper map of the building he had seemingly made. He had spent quite a large amount of time on this. "Now according to what I've seen there aren't any cameras on the inside of the building but from what I can find, it's shrouded in darkness."

"Really? Why does it have to be darkness?" Cypher growled in annoyance as he finished setting out out clothes, moving on to a backpack he was packing.

"Because faunus can see in the dark, the best way to stop their enemy is darkness. Humans don't have that luxury of amazing eyes." I pointed out and Yato nodded along with me.

"That's the basic idea." Zinex shrugged and Cypher sighed again.

"Then why are we wearing these black clothing?" He asked as he pointed to the combat clothing. "I did all of this and for nothing."

"Because their vision isn't perfect, the less light we reflect the less they will be able to see us." Zinex pointed out and Cypher gave up.

"Wait Zinex, what about your eyes? They uh… glow." Yato asked, which brought up a good point. His eyes were always something that alerted me to where he was in the dark, it was sort of like a beacon...no pun intended.

"That's why I have this." He said holding up a pair of sunglasses that seemed completely blacked out. "They will cloak my eyes, hopefully not getting us caught. Now by what I've seen the most logical place to hide people is in the main central bay as the entrance to the warehouse opens into an annoying maze meant to deter intruders. Luckily I've already memorized that pattern."

"Then we have the plan?" I asked standing up from where I had been sitting. "We save my parents and deal with any White Fang members that get in out way.?"

"Yeah and if we run into Iris…" Yato said clenching his fists in anger.

"We'll take her out Bro-man" Zinex said showing his trademark grin. It may not have been the most… complex plan, but it should work.

"Okay, seems like a plan, let's go" Yato said as we quickly got dressed, minus Zinex who was already wearing black. Yato then opened the door and exited, with Cypher in tow, carrying all of our stuff in a bag. Before I could go along with them, Zinex grabbed me by the shoulder, and looked at me with a serious look on his face.

"Aura, listen…" Zinex said sounding serious as the other two disappeared from sight "I don't know what it is, but I have a bad feeling in my gut about this. If I get detached from the group in any way, take this."

"What is it?" I asked confused about what he meant. He handed me his scroll which seemed to have a map on it. "Why are you giving me your scroll?"

"In case… just take it man. It has a map of the building on it, not to mention it has some other information important to us. Not to mention it can track me, just in case we get seperated." He said slightly tightening his grip on my shoulder. For the short while I knew Zinex, whenever he gets like this, there was always a concrete reason. If he said there's something wrong, there is something wrong.

"Okay bro, whatever you say…" I said holding a fist out for a fistbump, to which he returned.

"Hey guys…" Yato said peaking his head through the door, getting our attention. He had quite a large grin on his face. "Can you two make out later, we need to go." He said quickly bolting off, because he knew what was about to happen. Me and Zinex quickly ran after him, with anger in at least my veins.

"YATO, YOU STUPID LITTLE SHIT!" I yelled as I ran to catch up with him, he wouldn't be hearing the end of this anytime soon. Zinex and I eventually caught up to him and Cypher, who was running as well; but before any of us knew, we all bumped into someone, causing us all to fall over. When I recovered, I looked up to see Team RWBY getting up. Realizing that who we were on, I quickly pulled us off of them, getting a good look at everyone. Both of our teams paused.

Ruby was wearing an outfit consisting of a long-sleeve, light gray shirt with black belted cuffs near the ends of the sleeves. Over top of the gray shirt was a black pinafore with two vertical lines of red stitching that resemble the lacing on a corset. She wore a red skirt with a large black print of her emblem on the side and matching black tulle underneath. Her stockings and shoes remained the same as her usual outfit, though the boots lack the red trim that decorated the top. A few pieces of metal arranged in an abstract shape are attached to the shoulder of her left sleeve, and her cloak hood has been wrapped around her neck in a scarf-like fashion, while the rest hangs down like normal.

Yang was wearing an outfit consisting of a deep-collared cream vest worn over a low cut black shirt; both are covered by a dark gray shrug with a raised collar, three quarter sleeves adorned with a single black stripe down the outside of each sleeve, and gold cuffs. A black mini skirt was worn under the cream vest. A pair of crooked black belts with gold accents were slung around her hip, with a purple piece of fabric attached to the left-rear section of the lower belt. She wore thigh high stockings attached to her miniskirt by garter-belts on the front and back of each thigh, decorated with four golden studs above her knee and her emblem on the outside of each thigh in gold. She also wore black ankle boots with multiple buckles and white ribbons on the back tied in a bow. Around her neck was a purple pendant set in silver.

Blake was wearing an outfit consisting of a white, v-neck, zip-up crop shirt with a black hem and three quarter sleeves. Her emblem was printed in off-white on the left side of the shirt. She wore black pants that have a vertical gray stripe on the outer side of each leg and a black belt. Attached to the rear of the belt was a black piece of fabric that covers her from hip to hip. Underneath this was a longer, translucent, purple piece of fabric. She also wore black high-heel boots with two straps and buckles and purple undersoles, reaching to mid-calf. She retained the black ribbons on her forearms and her black bow.

And finally, Weiss was wearing an outfit that consisted of a white, double-breasted jacket with black piping, cuffs and buttons over a white, pleated full skirt with black lace trim. She also wore a pair of white, thigh high boots with black heels and lace-topped black stockings. Out of everyone's outfits, Weiss's was the most simplistic.

"We never saw each other." Zinex said, the first to speak when no one else did. Both of our teams we're obviously doing something we weren't supposed to be.

"Never." Yang said, obviously just as guilty as we were.

"And we're obviously not going anywhere we shouldn't be?" Zinex said in a questioning tone as we stayed silent.

"Obviously." Weiss agreed glancing at her team.

"Good luck then...on sleeping of course." Zinex said specifically looking at Blake this time, did he know what they were up to?

"You too…" Blake said slowly as we walked around each other and headed in separate direction. Well, that had been awkward.

"Do you k-" I was about to ask but Zinex held up his finger.

"Like I said, we didn't see them." He said quickly then began leading us to wherever the tunnel was, that part he hadn't told us, I sincerely hoped we were ready for this and Zinex's feelings weren't right.

 **Location: Vale: White Fang Warehouse**

"This should be it." Zinex said as we stopped in front of an unmarked building that seemed rather run down. It didn't really look to me like a place I wanted to stop at, as it seemed rather… destroyed and univiting.

"Are you sure this is the place we're looking for?" I asked as he pulled out his sword, which seemed to shimmer in the darkness. For some reason the sword he was holding looked different, but due to the darkness around us and the pure black of the sword I couldn't be sure. He walked to the door, which had a rather large chain on it and winded up. He swung down on the chain and I expected it to bounce off but his sword cut right through causing a shriek noise to piece my sensitive ears.

"What the hell, Z?" Yato asked in a irritated voice as Zinex turned back around, his sword gone from his hands.

"Cyphers fire would have taken too long, the longer we spend here the easier it will be to get caught." He pointed out as he opened the door for us, his eyes glowing in the darkness of the area. It seemed to blind me just a little bit, but I blamed that on the lack of light around.

"As if what you just did wouldn't have done the same." I groaned in pain and irritation. Zinex laughed a little as we all walked through. When we entered the abandoned building we noticed it had been a store that sold dust, how fitting.

"Alright where's the entrance?" Cypher asked as he set the backpack down in front of the door as Zinex shut it. Cypher pulled a device out of the bag and began setting up what looked to be a tripwire.

"In the middle of the store, should lead us to the tunnel." Zinex said as he walked to the middle and pulled a trapdoor open like he knew it was there. I suddenly began to share his feelings of nervousness, something really didn't seem right.

"Alright Zinex I got the warning set." Cypher said quickly as he was the first to go down the trapdoor, leaving the backpack behind. It seemed Zinex hadn't exactly told all of us the same plan, I never remembered him tell us about a trap at the main door. I didn't bother to ask what he had planned because I knew from experience that he wouldn't give me a straight answer.

"Alright then I guess it's time for these." Zinex said putting on the pair of sunglasses which nearly made him invisible as I no longer could see his eyes. I did notice a very soft and faint glow around him, was that the false aura he had told me about. However as I looked more I noticed it disappear, at least he was saving his energy.

"Alright then so we go." Yato said as we all made our way to the tunnel, which made the darkness even more oppressing. Even my faunus eyes couldn't pierce the darkness, I had no clue which was was what. Suddenly I saw a faint glow just a bit in front of me, it was just a small point of yellow light but it was enough for me to see.

"Follow me." I heard Zinex say in a soft tone. As the point of light began to move further away from me. I followed it and heard nothing but the sound of muffled footsteps for quite a long time. It honestly felt like we had been walking forever until the point of light finally stopped. "We're here. From here on out, I can't guide you as well. You'll have to really pay attention to my outline, don't speak. Just follow. If you get seperated just keep moving, it's a maze. The more lost you get the safer you'll be from the White Fang, but do not run, yell, or use any form of weapons or semblances until you make it to the inner circle. We cannot afford to break our cover until we get Aura's parents. Now let's go."

I began to follow as we walked out in more complete darkness and honestly I didn't notice any change we went through from the tunnel to the warehouse, even the air felt the same. I didn't hear either Cypher nor Yato beside me, and I didn't dare lose the outline of Zinex. After a few minutes of the slowest walking possible, I thought we were finally getting somewhere, that is until I smacked my head into something and stumbled back smacking into what I assume to be Yato or Cypher. I felt a pair of hands grab me before I fell or moved any further, judging by how large they were I sort of knew it was Cypher.

"Sorry." I muttered as I put my hand on Cypher's shoulder.

"Where is Zinex? And Yato?" I heard him right in my ear, talking as quietly as possible. I looked around and couldn't see either outlines of them, they were completely gone from sight. I resisted the urge to call out for them, even though I wanted to extremely badly. I remembered Zinex's conversation with me earlier about him getting lost from me, and remembered the scroll he had given me.

"Are you wearing your leather jacket?" I asked nearly without voice as I pulled out Zinex's scroll.

"Yes." He answered, I pulled up one side and he took the hint and pulled up the other. I hoped this would block the light from the scroll. I turned it on and Zinex had kept his scroll on the darkest possible setting, thankfully. The map was already loaded onto the scroll as I turned it on, and it showed me my location but unlike Zinex had said, it didn't show him. How odd.

"Okay we have to shuffle so I can direct us." I said as quietly as possible as I began to lead our shuffle. It took literally ten minutes for us to shuffle to the center of the warehouse, which was absolutely excruciating. I quickly pulled away from Cypher's jacket and turned the scroll off. I looked around for the outline of anyone but saw nothing. It seemed completely barren here. I walked around the circle looking for anything but I found nothing, it was just an empty place.

"Isn't this the middle of the warehouse?" I asked confused glancing at Cypher who probably couldn't see a thing. What had happened I thought they were supposed to be here?

"Indeed it is…" A calm feminine voice rang out. Before either of us could react, several large and powerful lights turned on and streamed towards us, temporarily blinding me. When my eyes adjusted, I looked around to see that me and Cypher were surrounded by several dozen White Fang members, all holding guns pointed at us. I quickly held my hands up as Cypher had done. Up on a catwalk that was above us stood a woman with a pure red dress on that seemed rather tight. She had what looked to be a four daggers on her belt that all were blood red. "Hello Cypher and Aura, I'm so pleased that you could join us."

"Iris... " I growled in anger at seeing her. While I didn't know for sure what Yato's mom looked like, his description of her matched quite well. Just the expression on her face made my skin crawl.

"It's a pleasure to see you here tonight, Mister Sharp. I will give you credit, your approach method was something I hadn't expected. But of course that is something we can discuss later." She said ever so calmly, which just pissed me off even more. "Would you like something to drink, or are you here for something else?"

"Cut the crap!" I yelled in anger, but not moving. I didn't dare test the people surrounding me. She laughed a little, obviously not caring about my emotions. "Where are my parents!?"

"Oh, your parents?" She asked sounding cocky. "I never had them…"

"What!?" I yelled in anger as Cypher stayed oddly silent. He seemed to be looking in another direction, just beyond Yato's mom.

"Or should I say I did have them." She said starting to laugh at my confusion. "They both managed to escape me sadly. But to my surprise and enjoyment you, their son, show up instead. Isn't that just wonderful? Not to mention with my deserter of a son." She said starting to laugh hysterically.

The image… it was fake!? And she never had my… argh! This fucking bitch played us. As I was thinking, I heard a lot of struggling as looked to the source of it and saw Yato being brought in by four guys. He looked badly bruised and beaten. His left eye was swollen shut and I noticed multiple cuts and rips in both his skin and clothes. He looked at me with anger in his non-swollen eye.

"Speaking of my bastard son, here he is." Iris said with her smile even wider. Hearing this just made my blood boil hotter than it ever has. I growled in anger, but I knew if I tried to move I would meet an even worse fate that he. I looked back to Iris as my anger began to build more and more, hate rising in my body. She seemed to look around for something else. "Where is the other one?"

"We could not find him Lady Iris." One of the faunus said that was finishing restraining Yato so that he couldn't move. Iris growled then with a quickness I had never seen before, she threw a knife directly at the faunus's head, ripping right through it. It broke my anger immediately and instead brought a sickness to my stomach. I turned away not wanted to see it, and instead looked up to Iris. Now with my anger out of the way, I felt fear build in my stomach. She was ruthless, uncaring and brutal… she was not going to spare us. As I looked at her rather insane gaze I began to notice something behind her, edging closer and closer to her. At first I thought it was my imagination but as I scanned the thing more I noticed one detail that brought a smile to my face… a pair of glowing yellow eyes.


	15. Chapter 15: Degrees of Separation

**Location: White Fang Warehouse**

 **Zinex's Pov**

I couldn't help but grin as I slowly made my way near the area in which Iris stood, laughing at my friends who stood just below.

"Oh your parents? I never had them." Iris cackled as Aura exclaimed in anger, however I made eye contact with Cypher who didn't dare acknowledge my existence. He knew my plan, or at least I hoped he did. I slowly pulled my weapon out of my trench coat pocket and held the canister-like structure in my right hand waiting for the perfect moment to strike, I knew the moment I triggered my weapon she would hear me so I had to be quick. I watched some White Fang members bring out Yato who looked like he had been beaten quite badly. I gripped my weapon harder but I didn't move at all, I knew that would only make it worse for all of us.

"We could not find him." One of the White Fang members said. Just as I half expected, Iris pulled out a knife from her belt then with precision and speed threw it right through the guys skull, instantly killing him. I glanced over at Aura who saw me at the same time and his expression changed to one of rather relief, he was sure happy to see me.

"You filthy idiots!" Iris shrieked loudly. As she pulled out yet another dagger and threw it through the head of yet another White Fang member. "You insolent fools failed me once by letting him leave in the first place!"

"But ma'am we tracked the sc-" Another member started to say but he too got a knife in his head. I knew to trust my gut, they had been tracing my scroll. I glanced at Iris's weapons and notice she only had 2 visible daggers left, this would make it too easy.

"No excuses!" She yelled as the Wife Fang members below seemed to really be uncomfortable being here. I slowly snuck closer to Iris, being as quiet as possibly could. "Find him! We cannot afford him g-"

"Hello there." I said quickly as I stood up, extended my sword, then slashed out at her arm. As my sword flew down, Iris flung herself sideways, just out of my swords reach. My sword sliced into the metal, getting it slightly stuck.

"You should have run the while you had the chance." Iris said with an evil grin on her face. I laughing and ripped my sword out of the metal with a loud grating sound.

"Or I could do this." I said taking a small ball out of my pocket then throwing it between Aura and Cypher. The ball created a small explosion which released a large amount of gas, blocking Cypher and Aura from view. Suddenly a sharp pain entered my side and I was pushed back a little. I looked down to see a knife had entered my side, I looked up at Iris only to see yet another knife heading my way. I slashed my sword up and knocked the knife onto the metal catwalk, then pulled the knife out of my stomach and threw it down to the ground level. I looked back to Iris who had a look of amazement.

"You really don't have an aura." She said to my surprise.

"How the hell did-" I started to ask but she lunged forward and hit me nearly as hard as Yato. I stumbled back as she hit my right arm, wanting me to drop my sword but I steeled my pain and smacked her with the hilt of my sword knocking her back. I quickly closed my eyes and pushed my body to heal, and after a few second the wound in my stomach closed. I opened my eyes to see Iris running at me with some sort of pipe looking object. She swugn it to my right side, which was rather stupid. I held up my sword blocking the attack the punching her in the gut, to which she stumbled back. "C'mon I thought you were going to be hard, your weaker that Aura's love life."

"Screw you, I heard that." I heard the faint voice of Aura call from the distance. I glanced back to Iris as she again stood up, this time with hate in her eyes. For a moment she stayed serious but then a wild grin appeared on her face.

"Oh Zinex, you left yourself vulnerable." She said as the world suddenly began to warp. Everything besides Iris I stayed the same while everything else began to fade into blackness until Iris and I were standing on nothingness. Suddenly, Iris's voice began to echo. "You will murder your friends."

"Get out of my head." I said with a growl but she only laughed.

"You will destroy." She said the smile leaving her face.

"No." I said as I felt pressure pushing onto my body, pressure turning into pain.

"You will do as I say!" She yelled, echoing into my brain and searing into my thoughts. For a moment all I wanted to do was obey her, I felt darkness within me awaken and rise. I saw the world around me begin to change as I looked towards Cypher and Aura, who were trying their best to keep the White Fang off and they were nearly done. They had knocked most of the out. I then felt power rise into my body, hate building and I looked at then. I saw black lightning begin to build in my hand, forming into a ball as I aimed at them. Without blinking I then saw the women I had see earlier, Noris as I called her, waving at me. My head split in pain, anger and sadness filled my brain as I pushed my hand away from my team and instead towards Iris. "POINT IT AWAY."

I growled as my hand, full of that horrid black lightning, moved back to the people I had come to think of as my brothers.

"No!" I boomed and in an act of pure defiance I pointed my hand down and release the lightning, causing an explosion that completely blinded me and flung me back. It wasn't long until I lost consciousness, pain filling my body then disappearing into dreams.

 **Aura's PoV**

I heard it before I saw it. A huge explosion noise followed by tearing metal pierced my sensitive ears and caused me to flinch. I quickly looked towards the source of the noise and saw pure black smoke covering the now completely vaporized metal of part of the catwalk. I saw Zinex, covered in this black smoke, flung back almost quicker than I could process and with a sickening crack he was launched right through the wall of the maze, lost in darkness. I looked around for Iris and saw she had managed to get out of range of whatever had caused the explosion. She had a look of amazement on her face as she got up and wiped dirt off of her dress. I felt rage building in my body.

"Well this was unexpected, however, you will not escape" Started to say, just hearing her voice filled me with rage. This bitch tricked us and made us think that my parents were here, I was more than mad, I was furious. I raised my weapon, and pointed to her with it. "Oh, do you really think I'm afraid of you little faunus? You don't even compare to-"

"Rgh!" I groaned in anger as I ran to her. I took several slashes at her, which she barely dodged with speed I seriously hadn't I recovered from her dodging, I looked slightly downward to see that she was trying to grab one of her knives, in an attempt to try and harm me. I quickly used my psychokinesis and launched the knives she had in various directions, taking out several White Fang members unintentionally in the process.

"Oh… No… You… Don't!" I growled continuing my assault, pronouncing each word with each slash. Only 2 of my attacks managed to land, and they only inflicted minor cuts. I noticed she started sweating, probably because I took away her most effective way of killing me. But instead I saw he reach behind her and grab what appeared to be a metal club. I quickly changed my approach into a more defensive one before she hit me in the head with it.

"Rgh, it seems I've underestimated you…and your pathetic team." She said sounding frustrated. I started chuckling. "I guess I'll have to try harde-What's so funny?!" .

"It's just funny…You think you can beat me… but you can't!" I said confidently twisting my hands around the grip on my sword, separating Mythrid Truths into two separate blades, effectively catching her off guard. She quickly jumped back and looked at me astonished, in each hand, I held a half of my sword, in a confident stance.

"But how, just a second ago you-" She began causing me to chuckle harder again. Perhaps Zinex had been a sort of influence on me. "What's so funny?!"

"You're an evil, nonchalaunt, nihilistic megalomaniac who cares nobody but herself…" I mused starting to laugh harder. When I calmed down, I looked at her in the eyes which one was red in anger, and the other was pitch black in pure murderous rage. "Therefore… I have a reason to kill you…" I sinisterly said as I quickly rushed at her. With a flurry of attacks. She tried blocking my first few strikes with her club, but I kicked it out of her hand, leaving her without anything to protect herself. I slashed left and right, leaving sickening cuts on her arms as she tried to block but she seemed overwhelmed.

"This is impossible!" She denied. "You can't possibly be this focused! What about your parents?!" She asked as she continued to dodge the attacks she could and powering through the ones she couldn't

"My parents?" I said laughing hysterically. "The only thing I'm focused on right now is killing you!" I yelled speeding up the pace of my attacks. After a few more slashes she grabbed my left arm in attempt to stop me, forgetting about my right arm. I quickly kneed her in the stomach, causing her to let go of my arm, kicked her away from me, and slashed he on her left knee, deep enough to not cut it off completely, but an inch through the bone. She flew back and landed in a wooden crate not too far away, she tried to get up but the wound on her knee prevented her from getting up or moving. She growled in pain as she held the wound.

"H- How are you so…" She said obviously shaken about what just happened. I chuckled, reconnected my sword, and calmly walked up to her, with the same look in my eyes.

"Am I weak now, Iris?" I asked raising my blade above my head, to strike her down. As I brought my hand down, my sword connected with some form of metal which produced a rather loud clang. Surprised momentarily filled my brain but as I looked up I saw the extremely battered form of Zinex. He had blood on the side of his face obviously from a wound that was healing on the right side of his temple. All of his clothes, besides his boots and trench coat seemed torn and showed even more cuts and wounds. Nonetheless the glow in his lightning yellow eyes bore into me with an intense look.

"It's time to stop." He said with a extremely serious tone."This is not something you want to do, you can't recover from this."

I roughly ripped my sword from his then look behind him to see that Iris had disappeared, not a trace or clue of where she went, we had lost her.

"Where did she go?" I asked furiously, not wanting her to escape me. I looked everywhere where she had been but found nothing, it seemed she had literally disappeared into thin air.

"I don't know, but-" He began to speak, lowering his guard before I used my psychokinesis and launched the shards of the box at him, causing him to stagger back a bit.

"Traitor!" I yelled in anger at my so called teammate as I flung yet another box at him which he knocked away with a sword strike. "If you hadn't got in my way, I could have made her pay for all she's done to me! She deserved to die."

"Oh, sorry…" Zinex said sarcastically, making me even angrier than I already was."I just wanted to keep you from making a decision that would haunt you for rest of your life Besides, how do you know if she is the one responsible for their disappearance? Obviously she has someon-"

I growled, and launched a stone at his head this time, which he dodged by tilting his head to the side easily. "It had to be her! She seemed to know a lot about them, and a lot about me, and a lot about what our moves were."

"So" Zinex asked, irritation forming in his voice.

"So everything!" I yelled, getting fed up with the argument. "Besides, what do you know? You family probably never loved you-" I began to say, but it felt as if something else was speaking. But without another second passing I felt a hand wrap around my throat and saw Zinex but he had quite a different look in his eye. His bright yellow eyes now replaced with a sort of purple color, though it quite dark.

"Shut up you little-" Zinex began to say before a White Fang member flew between us, and made a dent in the warehouse wall. We both turned to see Cypher bracing Yato, who looked like he had seen better days. Zinex immediately let go and back up quickly, I noticed his eyes had gone back to their normal yellow but he seemed extremely angry.

"And that's the last of 'em." Cypher cheered as he and Yato carefully walked towards Zinex and I. He then took a good look at us, seeing the pure anger on both of our faces and halting what he was going to say.. There was a pause before he said, "Not gonna ask."

"Come on, let's go…" Zinex said glaring angrily at me, to which I scoffed at. The nerve of him to be mad at me after what he did. Before any of us could walk off though, I heard something in the distance, causing one of my fox ears to twitch. It was the sound of a women groaning in pain, was this Iris?

"Hold on…" I said getting the attention of everyone. I looked around to see another door, just in the corner of the room. I began to walk towards the wooden door that looked rather old and beaten up. "Follow me"

The door led to a pair of stairs that spiraled downward. The stair's looked like they were filled with dirt and grime but I did managed to noticed some footprints that looked fresh. This had to be Iris. We all went down the stairway and after a while we reached a wide, brightly lit corridor, that broke off in two seperate directions. Both directions were hallways that seemed to lead into darkness, though that wasn't very hard for me to see through. "Yato, come with me. Cypher, you and Zinex go to the right and see what's down there. We meet back up here in an hour, if you two get lost just send us a message on your scroll." I ordered tossing Zinex's scroll back to him roughly. He caught it without a word and began to walk with Cypher to the hallway on the right whereas me and Yato headed to the left. The walk was quite boring and led to darker and darker environments but the path seemed to curve slightly downward. After about 15 minutes of walking in silence, Yato cleared his throat, trying to start a conversation. "So uh… what happened with you and-"

"I DON'T want to talk about it" I said sternly dismissing the topic, I wanted to focus on the mission at hand not the idiot who got us into it.. We continued down the darkening path in silence as we walked down what appeared to be a hall with holding cells on each side. Each cell was either open or closed, had scrape marks from escape attempts, and dirt and blood on the floor. Horrible smells filled my nose and the meer look of the cells gave off a feeling of gloom and woe, how long did they hold people here? I assumed the better question would be, where we all the people that had been in the cells?

We turned another corner to see another hall of cells, but in the fourth cell on the right, there was a girl laying on the floor, tied to a chair in there. She had brown hair and looked to be about seventeen years old. She was wearing a purple sleeveless tank top, a puffy purple short skirt, and black sneakers… she looked like a punk girl. But that didn't matter, what did matter was the fact that she didn't look so good. Her clothes and hair were dirty, her body was covered in various cuts, scrapes and bruises, and she looked as though she hadn't eaten in weeks; just the sight of her condition made me wish I had brought Zinex along, just to heal her.

"Oh my…" Yato said surprised about what he was now seeing, he tried to open the cell door, but to no avail. He pushed harder but only the sound of grating metal seemed to be heard. I looked up and saw pieces of metal literally shoved into the metal of the cell, who had done this.

"We have to help!" I exclaimed chopping at the lock on the cell, on to hear a clanking sound. I hit it as many times as I possibly could but no matter how hard I hit the lock, the metal refused to budge. I took another look at the pale girl and noticed that she was breathing ever so lightly, I couldn't believe she was alive in the condition she looked. "Yato can you-"

"Already on it." Yato said pulling his fist back the slamming it into the cell door, an explosion shaking the metal of the cage as it groaned. Yato grimaced, obviously hoping the first punch would have been enough. He pulled back yet another time, but before he could do anything a small rumble shaked us a bit.

"What was that?" I asked as I began to smell smoke, though the smell quickly faded. Yato shrugged then hit the door once more and it flew on the other side of the cell, barely missing the girl. I bolted inside of the cage and I carefully propped the chair back up and examined her body to see what damage was done to her. As I took a look around her, not daring to start poking and prodding, I did see anything broken, and the blood that covered her had already dried but I still notice a few open wounds that looked like they were barely healing, she definitely needed to be taken to some sort of infirmary. I walked around her and swing my blade down a few times, cutting the metal ropes that held her arms completely immovable, that seemed rather excessive for such a small girl, the metal looked as if it was used to hold someone like Yang back. I then moved in front of her and took a knee, lightly tapping a place on her arm that had no wounds. "Hey, can you hear... me?" I said starting to remember a memory from my past.

My sister Alice, being the difficult person she was, got into an argument with one of the local children back in Atlus a few years ago, and it hadn't turned out well in the end. The next week after the argument, she said she was going to the child's house to resolve the situation, and would be back in an hour; but two hours later, she didn't return. Getting worried, Liem, Jaxson, and I, snuck inside the child's house to find her, and ssaw what happened. What we found was her unconcious, chained to the wall, covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruised. It took a bit, but we were able to break the chain in the room, pick up Alice, and carry her home, not without crying a bit. When we got back, everyone was asking questions; who did this, why did they do this, and what do we do about this? And everyone was not doing well… Nina broke down crying, Liem teared up a bit before going to his room to take his frustration on a training dummy, Jaxson was pacing back and forth spouting gibberish, I was trying desperately to hold back my tears, Serenity was trying to calm Nina down while dealing with her own melt-down, and while Marx was the most calm out of us all, he did shed a tear.

After three days of agonizing silence from Alice, she finally woke up, and that's when we asked what happened. When she said that the person she was arguing with did this, Marx and Serenity left immediately to confront the family, Nina and Liem went to hug her tightly, Jaxson went to make some comfort food for her, and I joined him to help. When Alice and I were alone, I confronted her about what happened, which she tried to say she could handle it. As a response to that, I firmly smacked her across the face and told her that she couldn't; but when she recovered from it, I tightly hugged her and told her the one thing that changed our sibling dynamic greatly.

"We're family" it started as. "If you hurt, I hurt. So we need to protect each other and have each other's backs, Okay?" When I finished it, she immediately broke down crying and hugged me back, muttering sorry over and over again. In the end, the child was sent to juvy, my bond with Alice grew stronger, and we helped each other more often from then on out.

Shaking the memory out of my head, I saw that Yato was attempting to get the chains off that held her legs to the chain, and that the girl was starting to regain consciousness. Sighing, I cut the chains off the chair with a few slashes, startling Yato in the process. "Are you okay?" I asked the girl as she tried to get up.

"I'm fine" She said in tough voice as she stood up, however, she was shaky and seemed like she was going to fall over. Besides that she had a powerful look in her eyes, she had admirable confidence. She tried to take a step, but fell forward instead; thinking quickly, Yato and I reached forward and caught her before she fell. "Let go of me…" She said weakly as she tried to get out our supporting grasp, but to no avail.

"Nope." I said as Yato and I started to drag her out the cell with her trying her very best to get out of our grip to no avail. "You're obviously not in the best shape right now, so it's up to me and him to help you." I said pointing to my teammate, who waved to her.

"Ugh." She grumbled as she finally accepted the help and started to walk along with us, in pain, hopefully out the facility.

"So… what's your name?" I asked her wanting to know more about the girl. She really intrigued me, what had she been doing in the cell?

"What's it to you?" She asked rather rudely as we turned the corner. I could see a large frown on her face as she limped along with me.

"I just wanted to know the name of the person I quite possibly saved just now" I said slightly hurt as we continued down another hall. For a little we kept walking but then she sighed a little.

"... Celestia" She muttered with a frown."I'm Celestia."

"Hello Celestia…" I began. "My name is Aura Sharp, and that is my teammate Yato Umi" I said introducing Yato and myself.

"The tank of the team." Yato added with a laugh, causing a slight look of confusion on her face. I thought it was due to my name. "And before you say anything, yes I know the irony of my name, don't ask or laugh please." I said trying to keep her from laughing.

"I wasn't going to laugh…" She grumbled... good, I hated things like that.

"Anyway…" Yato said getting the attention of the two of us. "Whatcha doing here?" He asked, why was she here, and tied up no less?

"I don't want to talk about it" She said dismissing the topic about as quickly as I had done earlier to Yato. He mumbled something about not being important enough to know anything but honestly I ignored him. We were about to pass a weapon storage room before she suddenly stopped. "Hold on"

She then trudged her way into the room, at a quite slow pace. Yato and I waited a good ten minutes before she returned with what appeared to be a staff of sorts, and she was using it to support herself.

"Now let's go" She said as we continued to walk towards and exit. It took a few minutes before we found a hole blasted into the wall of the building leading outside. We went through that and took a look around, it looked as if no one was here; no cameras, no scorch marks, nothing. Without either Yato or Celestia noticing, I slipped away and made my way back to Beacon. I did not want to have to talk to Zinex after what happened, not at all.

 **Location: Right Tunnel**

 **Zinex'sPoV**

I walked away from the other two, furious at Aura for being such an insufferable… I shouldn't say that. I walked quickly down the tunnel, keeping an eye out for any form of electrical pulses that might indicate people though I really hoped a grimm wasn't hiding in these tunnels. Grimm proved to be troubling creatures as they didn't at all show up in my vision when it was dark. Normally I could see anything that had electrical pulses running through their body but in the case of Grimm, they seemed to run on pure darkness which really screwed me up.

"Dude, what happened with you and Aura?" Cypher asked as he squinted in the darkness, hoping that would help him see better. I rolled my eyes, as I turned my sword back into the small black metal canister with the words 'Infinity Beta' written on it. I put it into one of the pockets that my trench coat had.

"Look just drop it." I said with a sigh as I recalled that specific moment which both scared me and angered me at the same time. How quickly I went to anger… it was as if I was losing control. Iris had seriously screwed me up, showing me even without that Dark X inside me...I was still… ugh.

"Okay… how about the girl you li-" He started to say.

"Basically Aura and me got into an argument about me stopping him from killing Iris, when I stopped him Iris escaped." I said quickly definitely avoiding the second subject, that was not for now.

"Oh I see…" He said a bit confused but I ignored it. I began to try to see what was around us but I was having little to no luck seeing much of anything but a horrible stench of death hit my nose, which caused me to close my eyes as they started to burn. "What is that terrible smell?"

"I'm not sure what that is." I slightly lied, I had a feeling Cypher really wouldn't like to know what I really thought it was. I wiped my eyes and tried my best to navigate forward , though it was extremely hard as the stench managed to get worse and worse. We eventually reached a point where breathing was becoming difficult for both of us, judging by the wheezing Cypher was doing we were entering a hellish part of this place.

"Zinex this smells lik-" Cypher started to say and I knew where he was going with it and I quickly cut him off.

"I know what it smells like bro, but… we gotta keep going. I would bet Iris went this way, they always go the worst paths." I said, referring to anyone that made themselves my enemy. As we kept advancing we began to hear splashing where we were walking, but due to my boots I could only imagine what it could be. Eventually though we were met with a barrier that I could just feel in front of us. I knew there was only one thing we could do at this point. "Alright we gotta blast whatever this is open, it..should burn."

"Yeah…" He said, sounding like he was trying not to puke.

"After my armor comes on, push all your power into a fire ball then fire it in front of you then prepare yourself." I explained and I saw him nod. I then filtered lightning through my trench coat and my armor immediately sprung over me, protecting me from the elements and the smell. I quickly turned off the hud on my helmet… there were things even I didn't want to see. I saw Cypher pull his hands together like I had showed him then he pushed fire from seemingly nowhere into his hands and it turned into a rapidly spinning fireball but he didn't stop there. He pushed more and more power into the ball, making it bigger as it spun even more rapidly which began to produce extreme heat as the flame began to turn blue. After a single second he flung it at the barrier and a huge explosion happened right in front of my eyes, knocking me completely into the now on fire liquid. All I saw were flames and even though i was in armor, the explosion still jarred me. Suddenly I felt myself being lifted up, though the intensity of blue light didn't seem to disappear at all. All that I could see was blue fire, as if it had become a liquid. Though as I turned I began to see two points of red near me, indicating Cypher. "Seriously, nothing?"

"Man can never be hot." He said with a laugh as he began to lead me through the blue fire after I heard a loud boom. He must have known I was basically blind at this point but I knew he could see just fine through the fire. We walked for an unknown amount of time, through an annoying amount of turnarounds, until we reached the outer edges of what seemed to be a fireball. My eyes took a severely long time to adjust as they literally had to heal from being blinded with blue light.

It felt odd however, as I felt like everything around me was on a cloud but after a few minutes my eyes finally adjusted to the light as I saw we were in a small little room with a metal door on one side and a metal ladder built into the ground on the other. There also seemed to be a small chest in the corner which was already open… had I passed out? I saw Cypher digging through the chest pulling out random things like food and medicine.

"Dude where are we? How long have we been here?" I asked extremely confused. Cypher looked back at me and I noticed he had completely changed clothes into a simple white shirt and jeans, I guess his clothes had not been fireproof.

"My scroll got completely incinerated so I'm not sure but I'd guess it took us about an hour to get here, we've been here for about… 15 minutes I think." He said as I signaled my armor to turn back into a trench coat. "And by the way that thing is amazing where did you get it?"

"Long story." I said softly checking my scroll, Cypher's guesses had been fairly accurate. I also saw a message from Yato questioning where we were. I simply typed 'We're on our way.' Even though I had no clue where we were.

"You ready to go?" Cypher asked and I nodded standing up, noticing I felt considerably better than I had earlier. We then headed up the ladder, which took quite a long time as it basically ascended into darkness. After a bit, we managed to reach the surface and climb up onto a deserted road that I recognized quite well. I noticed the cracked moon was high in the sky as we closed the door back up. I looked around and noticed the walls of Vale just barely in the distance, we had gone extremely far.

"I hope that fire doesn't reach Vale." I muttered as we started walking towards the walls.

"It won't, I locked it off on the front end and this end. You know that barrier you were talking about? Well it was a huge metal door that was covered in some sort of sticky substance that cause that huge fire. I closed the door before we went anywhere. The only other opening was the room down there." Cypher assured me with a tired smile and I breathed in relief, I had hoped my mistake in judgement hadn't had worse consequences.

"Well I guess all that's left to do is head back to Beacon." I said with a yawn, I too felt tired.

"Yeah and this time I gotta tell you something you can't repeat to anyone." He said and I gave him a curious look. He sighed. "It's about the girl I'm dating in… secret."


	16. Chapter 16: Picking Up the Pieces

**Aura's POV**

 **Location: Team AYZC Dorm**

I was in my dorm, laying on my bed looking up at the ceiling terrible feelings running through my mind. I still couldn't believe that I felt for that trap so easily, that Zinex had stopped me from killing Iris, and letting her get away. Part of me wanted to break something, another wanted to cry, and another wanted to just run until I couldn't. I just… I felt lost. Everything had crashed around me in that warehouse, I felt I had lost everything.

It had been about a week after the warehouse incident, and things were… better? For everyone besides myself things were going better than ever, Celestia knew Ruby and Yang so there was a reunion which I only found out due to the short time I had seen them during classes. Saving Celestial from the White Fang was one of the very few things we did right on that mission, but we had still let that wretched woman get away, the same woman who had information on my parents. It just made me sick, but not as much as Zinex had.

I couldn't stand that he had held me back when I had the chance to get answers, to finally kill the women who took my parents away from me and my family, effectively letting her escape. I didn't care what he excuse was he had let her get away which had seriously caused me to pull away from everyone. Whenever lunch came around I sat away from them, specifically him, when class ended I either went to straight my dorm or into Vale. I just couldn't be near them, looking at them reminded me of how much of a failure we had been. Only when we gathered into the dorm did I see them, and even then we didn't interact. I was knocked out of my thoughts when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in…" I said as loudly as my voice would let me, which really wasn't that much as I really wasn't feeling good. The door opened to reveal Celestia with a tray of food that included various fruits, a slice of neapolitan cake, and a large piece of ham. What had she cooked? Or much better, Why had she cooked? Celestia wasn't exactly the nicest of people when it came to doing openly nice things like this, so her bringing in food really knocked me off my thought train.

"Hi Aura." She said with a warm smile, even through her punk like appearance, trying to be courteous. It was odd seeing her act so nice when she seemed rather scary. After the whole warehouse incident she was the only one I really interacted with on a daily basis. We had told Ozpin about her situation and he had decided to appoint me to be her 'watcher' while she stayed at the school… though I had the feeling she was watching over me much more than I was watching over her

"Hey..." I said back, turning my gaze to the ceiling. I heard her sigh, put the tray of food on the desk in the room in a huff, but not leave the room. A few seconds later, I felt a shift in weight on the bed, I guessed she had taken a seat on the bed.

"Cypher told me about what happened to you and your family… " She said sounding rather fearful, not that I cared at this point. "... And he told me what happened with that guy named Cardin you hate… and what happened between you and Zinex in that warehouse…"

"And…" I said sounding angrier than I really was, I felt my eyes flash between blue and red for my emotions were all over the place. She sighed again before continuing.

"And… I… wanted to tell you a story" She said facing me, and this time I did turn to her, looking into her intense hazel eyes. "MY story. How I got to that hell of a warehouse"

"And why do you want to do that?" I asked looking at her, not that I didn't care about her origins, it's just that I wasn't sure what the point of this, why should I care? Not to mention she had made it a point to avoid all discussions about her 'origins' and it seemed odd that she would pick now to tell me.

"Because there's a reason to it, ok." She said raising her voice, obviously letting her true personality show. "Just shut your mouth and listen."

"Ok Celestia" I said sitting up, then blinking. She had this intense look in her brown eyes that seriously made me afraid of her. I knew protesting further would only cause more problems for me, so I caved. "Tell me then."

"Well… You know Ruby, Right? Ruby Rose?" She asked me and I scoffed at her question, of course I knew Ruby.

"About as tall as me, short black hair with red streaks, giant sniper scythe. Yeah, Why?" I said listing characteristics about my younger friend. She rolled her eyes.

"Why do you always over explain things? A simple 'Yes' would have been okay, but yes that's the one. Well Ruby, Yang, and I all used to go to Patch together. We were seriously good friends, we would hang out all the time during and after school. You should have seen it when we were reunited, I swear those two jumped on me faster than a Beowolf." She said chuckling a bit at her own joke. Suddenly her face turned rather sad but she quickly steeled her face then sighed, probably realising she was showing me a bit more emotion than she had intended. I could tell her mood was changing. "Anyway… while I was attending Patch, I met a man who I, at the time, believed was a good person who could help me with my training. He was nice, handsome, muscular…"

"I don't like where this is going" I said starting to curl up in a ball, wrapping my tails around me which brought me warmth. Judging by the fact that she ended up in a White Fang warehouse meant things didn't turn out well with this mystery guy.

"For a while, it went well." She said looking up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath as she began to play with the edge of her purple shirt, which I could tell she did when she was uncomfortable as it happened a lot. "He helped me with my training, and helped me control my semblance, which had been really out of hand. He said he… loved me. But…"

"There it is." I muttered because I knew there would be a 'but.' It seemed to be a common trend around here… everyone had a sad story. Yato and his mother, me and my family, Zinex and his… situation, the list went on and on...It saddened me that so much pain resided in our lives.

"... After a while of nice times, I found out that he was a member of the White Fang, which didn't really make him happy. Nor did it really make sense to me why he… loved me." She said sighing in regret, I knew that sigh… She was reliving every moment as she spoke it. "So I tried to leave him, because the White Fang kills so many; but he found out I had escaped and he captured me, and held me captive for what felt like forever. I went from base to base, hideaway to hideaway until I met you and your team a few days ago. What scares me is that I know he's still out there… somewhere. Searching for me… waiting for me."

"Ok. That's messed up, but…" I started, uncurling from my ball. I honestly didn't understand what she was trying to say, was there something I wasn't getting? Was there a lesson she was trying to teach? "What was the purpose of telling me that? I don't understand."

"The point is Aura," She said groaning a bit, as If she really didn't like having to explain this to me. For some reason I got that expression a lot. "If you stop and think about all our stories, one way or another, they're all the same in a way. Losing parents to grimm, not ever knowing who our parents at all, having horribly evil parents, or in my case, being kidnapped. Our separation from the ones that cared for us and love us is similar. Nearly everyone we know has some sort of darkness from that, your no different. Zinex was trying to make sure you didn't end up in a worse place… and judging from the way he explained the situation to me, he's seen it first hand."

"You- Your right Celest" She was right,. Perhaps I had been a little...blinded and given Zinex a bit more trouble in that warehouse than I should have. As for my parents I quickly came to the conclusion that even though I had never met them, I shouldn't have been so bent on finding out where they were. I couldn't let my emotions get in the way of the real world, the present time. I would still look for them, gather information, but pushing so hard and taking more risks than I should have wasn't the way to go. I had a chance to find them, and this time I wouldn't let my emotions get the best of me.

"Of course I am right, I am always right." She said in a extremely intense voice, as if begging me to challenge her. For a moment I stayed silent but then I just laughed at her and she dropped her intense expression and instead smiled.

"Thank You" I said smiling for the first time in a week, she had really helped me. I felt my happiness build as the seconds passed. The clouds my mind had been surrounded by finally dissipated.

"Don't mention it Aura, seriously don't. I will break your little legs if you do." She said smiling warmly, which completely through me off. She then rubbed the top of my head, between my fox ears, then got up. I patted my hair back as she walked towards the door then looked to me, a serious look had entered her face. "Your friends care about you, just like how you feel about them, they don't want to see you hurt. They want the best out of you, not the worst."

"Yeah, I know…" I said looking down. I knew I was wrong for trying to kill Iris, and the fact I did it so easily scared me even more. Zinex had just been trying to save me from whatever he was scared I would turn into.

"Anyway…" She said opening the door. "Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Zinex, Yato, Cypher, and I are making a dance for Beacon, it would mean alot if you came to helped instead of sitting on your lazy ass." She finished walking out the door

 **3rd Person POV**

 **Beacon Ballroom**

As Celestia had said, Yato, Zinex, Cypher, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and herself were in the ballroom setting up for a dance to be held at Beacon in the coming days. Ruby was sitting on a small table taking a break because she was 'tired', Weiss was analyzing the ballroom and making various adjustments using her perfectionist mind, Cypher was just looking around looking for something to do, while Zinex looked like he really didn't want to be there. Yang, Yato, and Celestia were doing the literal heavy lifting, as they were each carrying a rather large speaker on their shoulders.

"Ugh, this is so much work…" Ruby groaned in frustration and fatigue as she slumped onto the table. "I don't wanna do this anymore."

"Well, we're all doing this for a reason, AREN'T WE!?" Yang yelled facing Cypher, who was leaning against a wall, and Zinex who was playing with the ring on his finger. The intense look on Yang's face remained there until Cypher and Zinex acknowledged her.

"That's right." Cypher said quickly, ready to help. He seemed extremely energetic today as he glanced over at Weiss who wasn't really paying attention as she was busy perfecting the actual planning of the party.

"Sure..." Zinex muttered without looking up from his ring. He looked both stressed and tired at the same time, for reasons none of the people in the ballroom seemed to know. Yang just huffed and put down the large speaker she was carrying at the same time as Yato and Celestia, causing a tremor that knocked nearly everyone off their feet. "Now where's that- ah ha, there it is." Yang said as she walked over to a distant box and pulled out a disco ball from it. It glimmered and shined in her hands as a wide grin entered Yang's face.

"You know diso's dead, right Yang?" Yato said wrapping an arm around her neck affectionately, Yang turned and playfully booped his nose.

"Quiet you, don't distract the leader." She said with a giggle, to everyone's sigh. She then turned back to the group with a determined look on her face. "Now to hang it. Zinex, make yourself useful, grab the ladder, and hold it while Ruby goes up to hang it."

" _Si La Capi-tan"_ Zinex said looking up from the lightning bolt ring on his finger in a language no one in the room understood as he went to retrieve a ladder.

"Oh, come on!" Ruby whined as she stood up, obviously annoyed. She groaned all the way next to the rest of the group then stopped. "Why do I need to hang the disco ball?"

"Because…" Celestia said as she dropped a box of supplies on the table in front of Ruby, scaring her a little. "We've been doing most, if not all the work, and all you've been doing is sitting on your ass and complaining just like the other two who are supposed to be here."

Before Ruby could complain any further, Zinex came back with a ladder so tall that it reached the ceiling, and set it up in the center of the ballroom. Finally accepting the fact she didn't have a choice in the matter, Ruby got up, grabbed the disco ball from her sister, and walked over to the ladder. Putting the disco ball under her left arm, she started to climb the ladder. She eventually reached the hook that was conveniently hanging from the roof, and attempted to place the disco ball on it. She struggled however, due to the shear height of the ladder and not even Zinex could of hold as much swaying at Ruby was doing.

"Um, Rubes? You o-" Yang started to say before Ruby finally lost her balance and fell, a scream piercing the ballroom. Thinking quickly, Zinex let go of the ladder and bolted to catch Ruby. The disco ball fell as well, though at a different angle than Ruby which made Zinex unable to reach. He grimaced and stayed out under Ruby's falling form.

"I got it!" A voice said suddenly. Just before the disco ball hit the ground, a light blue glow surrounded it, and held it above the ground. Standing at the entrance of the ballroom was Aura with his hand out, surrounded by the same light blue glow as the disco ball.

"Aura." Celestia exclaimed as he levitated the disco ball to his hands. They all gathered towards him for they had not seen seen him outside of classes in days. Zinex and Ruby looked at each other, realizing that Ruby was still in Zinex's arms. Zinex set Ruby, who was blushing, down gently. Zinex grinned broadly with his jokester look coming back, though it quickly dropped as he saw who was here.

"Hey guys." He said holding the disco ball in his hands. "I see that the dance is coming along well" He said taking a look around until he spotted his lightning haired teammate "Zinex…" He said blandly as he held the disco ball carefully with his tails.

"Aura…" Zinex said with barely any emotion, though judging by the increased glow in his eyes he wasn't happy. The tension between the two was thick, as they didn't say anything else. Then Aura just sighed, a sort of defeated look entering his face.

"Listen… I'm sorry about what happened last week, I was just so angry with life that I just didn't care about anything else except… you know…" He said rubbing his shoulder.

"To be fair… you might not need a high IQ to know..." Zinex began causing his Kitsune teammate to look up at him. A grin had appeared on his face "I might have been a bit emotionally charged as well at the."

"So… friends?" Aura said holding his hand out in mutual forgiveness and friendship. Zinex looked at his hand for a second.

"Friends" Zinex said to Aura as he shook his hand, showing his faith in Aura. The heartwarming moment lasted five seconds before Aura heard Yato starting with his insane jokes.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss…" He whispered quietly into Yang's ear, hoping not to be heard, but failed epically. Aura groaned, let go of Zinex's hand, walked over to Yato, anger filling his blood. Before Aura could do anything however, a lightning bolt flew at Yato then stopped mid-air, right in front of Yato. The buzz and the crackle of the bolt coupled with it's movement made Yato's eyes widen as his hair stood up a little.

"Not the only one who can hear good, fox ears." Zinex laughed as the lightning bolt faded from existence, leaving Yato wide eyed. The whole room paused in silence.

"Why don't you learn?" Aura hypothetically asked, causing everyone in the room to laugh, which gave Aura a satisfied smile. He really enjoyed being back with the people he called friends. He hadn't realised how lonely he felt until this moment but he knew now… He missed them.

"Heartwarming moment aside…" Yang began causing everyone to look at her. "Aura, do you mind?" Yang said pointing up. Aura looked up to see the hook hanging from the ceiling, and then looked at the disco ball in his hands to see a ring on the top.

"Ok, I got it" he said as he spun his tails fast enough to gain lift and took off. Once he was airborne, he flew up to the hook and hung the disco ball from it, making sure it was secure. He came back down and stretched his body to and fro because of his lack of movement all day. "Anyway… how are you all?"

"We're fine Aura, thank you." Weiss said kindly to him, it made him glad to see she meant what she said a while ago. Though Aura noticed something else about her, a smile that both Yang and Yato often wore when they were with each other. Though Weiss quickly shook Aura out of thought. "Are you here to help?"

"Well, I hung the disco ball didn't I?" He said pointing up to said disco ball. "I might as well help since I'm here now."

"Yeah, Aura stepping up to help for once!" Yato said cheerfully patronizing his leader, who groaned in frustration, walked up to him, and firmly smacked him. Yato slowly turned back to his leader, his left cheek burning red with a hand mark on his face. "OW! WHY!?" Yato yelled from the pain he had just experienced.

"Because One: You're a jackass, Two: Comumpance for being a jackass the past week, and Three: Because I can." Aura said listing his reasons. Before Yato could do anymore damage, Yang grabbed his shoulder. Knowing who it was, Yato instantly calmed down and let it slide. "Anyway... tell me what to do, I'm here to help."

"Ugh, what's the point…" Ruby said sounding defeated. "It doesn't matter if Blake doesn't come…"

"Yeah…" Zinex said sounding disappointed, he seemed to begin to fiddle with his lightning ring once again. Noticing this, Aura nudged his friend/teammate in the side, with a smug look on his face and his eyes yellow. Zinex looked at him confused for a moment, it took his brain a moment to process what he had said and why Aura was nudging him, and sent an electric shock into Aura's arm. "Shut it…" he said looking off to the side quickly.

"Oh, don't worry guys…" Yang said in a way that internally scared most in the ballroom. "... She will be coming to this dance, trust me."

"Yay?" Yato said confused about what Yang meant by the way she said that.

"I'm not sure if I should be happy or scared right now" Aura said backing up from the fiery blond.

"Don't worry about it" Yang said with a confident grin on her face as she walked towards the door, disappearing from the ballroom.

"Where do you think you're going, we're not done yet!" Weiss yelled as the door shut behind her. The silence that followed was long and awkward, as no one knew what to say next.

"Well, let's just continue" Cypher said reaching walking over to the box of supplies on one of the tables. Everyone looked at each other, sighed, and went with him because they had nothing better to do.

 **Location: Streets of Vale**

"And that comes to… forty-five lien" A shopkeeper said as he sold a red scarf to a female fox faunus who had a rather hungry look on her face as she looked at the scarf. The female faunus reached into her purse to get the amount required, but realized she only had forty lien on hand. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Damn it." She cursed in frustration at the lack of money she had. The shopkeeper tried to take back the scarf, but the female held on tightly to it, wanting to keep it. She looked up at the shopkeeper and put on the best seductive face she could. "Isn't there another way I can pay you?"

"Well… with the right price..." The man said eyeing her body, making her feel uncomfortable but she didn't scold him as she usually would. "Maybe you can pay me back with your-"

"Wait!" A young feminine voice called out as another person bolted into the store. The woman looked down to her side to see a fox faunus girl a few years younger than her, holding up what appeared to be five lien. "He's five extra lien sister, you dropped it back at the hotel." The woman took the five lien from her sister, taking a breath of relief, then handing the total forty-five lien to the shopkeeper, who grumbled but accepted the payment. Then the two girls walked off with scarf in the older sisters bag and little sister in hand.

"Sis…" The little girl said shyly as she held her older sister's hand and looked up at her.

"Yes Nina?" The older sister asked with a smile as she looking at her sibling.

"Do you think we'll find him?" She said holding on tighter, starting to tear up; she was thinking heavily about the person they had both lost. The older sister stopped for a second to think before she spoke again, she had to make sure that she chose her words carefully.

"We will, I'm sure of it." She said smiling hopefully at her little sister, who was starting to shake a bit. "Come on Nina, don't cry… He's strong, so he's not giving up anytime soon. And neither should we" She said hugging her little sister, who hugged back.

"You're right, thanks Serenity" Nina said calming down a bit, a happy smile entering her face. After a few seconds they seperated and continued to walk down the streets of Vale hand in hand.

After a few minutes of walking, they passed by a girl wearing a beret, and a girl who appeared to be a rabbit faunus, who were having a conversation. While they didn't hear most of what they were saying, Nina heard the beret wearing girl say. "... what about that Aura, huh Velvet?" Nina's eyes widened at the mention of that phrase. She turned around to see the two people walking off in the distance, and without warning her sister, let go of her hand and ran after those two.

"Like I said Coco, it wasn't li-" Velvet started to say before she felt a tug on her shirt. She looked down to see Nina, who seemed out of breath from running, tugging on her shirt. "Oh… hello, what can I help you wi-"

"Nexus!" Serenity yelled as she ran towards the group of three. She looked down towards Nina who was looking down guiltily. "Nexus, don't run off like that. Besides, why are you bothering these two?"

"Ask them, ask them!" Nina exclaimed at her older sister. "They know him!" When Nina said that, Serenity's eyes widened a bit.

"Um... excuse me?" Coco said getting the attention of the sisters. "Who do we know exactly?"

"Oh, sorry…" Serenity said realising they hadn't introduced themselves. "My name is Serenity, and this is my little sister Nina and my little sister was wondering if you can help us find someone we've looking for."

"Name's Coco. This is Velvet" Coco said introducing herself and her friend. "We should be able to help you find your target."

"Who are you looking for?" Velvet asked wanting to help them.

"He's our brother… we haven't seen him in two years but…" Serenity started, thinking about what he would look like. "By now he should be about five foot nine, he has black hair, black tails with gold tips, and should be about sixteen" She said listing the characteristics of her brother.

"His name is Aura" Nina added. "He also wears a pair of-"

"Black glossy bracelets" Velvet said interrupting her. Both Serenity and Nina covered their mouths in shock, after two years they could reunite with their brother "Oh my- you're his siblings! Well come on let's go, I'm sure he-" Velvet started to say before she was interrupted by a scroll ringing. Serenity reached into her pocket, pulled out her scroll, and answered it.

"Hello?" She began. "Alice? What is- wait what? But why would he- ok ok, calm down, everything is going to be ok… Yes I'll head back… love you too, bye." She hung up her scroll and sighed. "We have to go now" She said with a solemn and regretful tone of voice.

"But what about Aura?" Nina asked sadly, not that Serenity was paying attention. Serenity reached into her bag and took out the scarf she bought, it was a long royal blue silk scarf with black silk lining the edges of the scarf. She originally bought it for herself, but knowing there was a possible emergency with her family, she rethought her decision.

"Here…" She Serenity said handing the scarf to Coco. "When you see him again, please give this to him and tell him it's from his family." She said with her voice starting to break

"Okay." Coco said taking the scarf from Serenity, even though they just met, she knew that it would mean a lot to both parties if she did this.

"Thank you" Serenity said taking a respectful bow. "Come on Nexus, let's go" She then said grabbing her sister by the hand and lead her back in the opposite direction.

"Well… they were nice." Velvet said with a bright smile, yet on the inside she was feeling melancholy, Serenity and Nexus had the chance to see Aura again, but couldn't because of something important that came up last second.

"Yeah…" Coco said feeling the same way. "Well, come on Velvet we need to head back. After all, we have that mission, right?"

"Oh shoot, right" Velvet said remembering the fact that they did have a mission to get to. "I guess Aura won't be getting this scarf anytime soon…" She said sounding disappointed.

"Cheer up Velv" Coco said patting her teammate on the shoulder. "When we get back we can give it to your boyfriend" Coco joked making Velvet blush.

"It's not like that!" Velvet exclaimed defensively as they started to head to the bullhead to head off to their mission. Velvet felt guilty that she wouldn't be able to give Aura the scarf but she knew she'd be back eventually to do so. She decided against messaging Aura as he already hadn't returned most of her calls, perhaps he was busy. She would give him the scarf when she returned, that was for sure.

 **Location: White Fang Base**

 **Time Skip :Nighttime**

"They escaped…" Iris said as she knelt in the darkness of her room, looking at a small glowing black object. The orb seemed rather normal, small, and wasn't particularly bright. The man she had been talking to walked into the room and into its shadows.

"You have failed Iris." The voice said in a rather angry tone as a glint of red pierced the darkness, though Iris simply stayed exact where she was, her back to the newcomer.

"It seems I have, but I believe we can advance our plans." Iris grinned as a beam of moonlight showed a truly insane grin on her face.

"Speak." The voice growled as the glint of red disappeared from the darkness. The figure moved closer and the moonlight fell upon their Grimm masking, revealing the masked Adam Taurus.

"Beacon may have powerful warriors, AYZC may have powerful warriors, but all warriors have their weaknesses." She then laughed a truly diabolical laughed which caused Adam to shift a little uncomfortably, even someone like him knew Iris was a bit… off her rocker. "Our plan is forming together perfectly. It appears the lightning boy has a few more weaknesses than we believed, along with Aura."

"Explain." Adam said bluntly, an intense look reappearing on him mostly masked face. Iris turned to him and he could see both hate and humor is Iris's eyes.

"The lightning one. He wastes his potential, the potential for so much destruction he's holding back. He will not allow himself or other to kill, from what I saw in his mind… He has experience. I felt pure loss in his mind, that we can manipulate. He will want to prevent any more loss at all costs. That will be his downfall." Iris grinned evilly, turning back to the black orb in front of her. "Plus he can be manipulated. There is darkness within him, hate, anger, rage… if we can get him in a state of pure emotional conflict then I will be able to control him."

"Then I will kill him." Adam growled heavily gripping the hilt of his sword hard.

"No Adam, We will use him. You think too much of the present, he can be a weapon for-" She started to say but Adam shot a large glare in her direction.

"You do not order me Iris, You're an advisor. Learn your place." He growled loudly but Iris just laughed.

"That is what I am doing, advising Adam. But you do what makes you happy, I cannot stop you." She shrugged then sighed staring directly at the broken moon. "As for Aura, that telekinetic was a tricky one. It seems due to his semblance I am unable to penetrate his mind, therefore I have found other means of weakness."

"And they are?" Adam asked, emotion leaving his voice.

"His family, he would do anything for them. Even if it meant sure death, sure pain, sure struggle. He showed me this when he arrived at the warehouse completely lost of two of his team members. This I can manipulate as I know where the boys family is." She said holding up her scroll for her to read. A message from Gerald had appeared on it. The text read 'Heading to the location now, is it wise to plan so far ahead?' Iris smiled at this then set it back down, staring at the orb in front of her as shadowy shapes moved through it. "It is already in motion Adam. As long as your girlfriend comes through with-"

"I will rip your throat out." He growled clenching his fists then taking a breath, calming down a bit. "Cinder will come through with her part, we just need to be ready. You didn't mention Cypher, what did you learn from the warehouse about him?"

"Trust me, my plan for Cypher and Yato will not fail. It has been in the works for quite a while now." Iris said with an evil grin as she finally stood and faced Adam, who hadn't really moved. "We will not fail."

"For your sake, you better hope we don't." Adam said then exited the room as a grimace formed on Iris's face. She paused for a moment then looked to the shadowy orb and grinned, staring deeper into its shadows.


	17. Chapter 17: The Dance

**Location: Team AYZC Dorm**

 **A week later**

 **3rd Person POV**

"It's here!" Aura said cheerfully as he stretched his body, a smile on his face. It was the night that many had been waiting for and many had been dreading, it was the night of the dance. Everyone in Beacon had been preparing but none more than Team AYZC, whose members had taken this day very seriously. All throughout the previous week, the team had been discussing what they were going to wear and how they were going to get their specific outfits.

"We get it Aura! Your ready!" Cypher sighed in irritation as he tried to finish up getting ready. He was wearing a fiery red tuxedo with a black buttoned up shirt, accompanied by a thick red tie. The tie itself had fireballs on it as Yato had thought it to be a funny joke when he got him the tie from an unknown place, Cypher however thought it was great and decided to wear it anyways.

"Just because you waited until the last minute to get ready, doesn't mean you have to be mean." Aura grumbled looking at Cypher, his eyes turning a very light red. Aura was also in a tuxedo though his was more of a generic white color with a black bowtie with black buttons on his dress shirt. He was also looking into a mirror making sure that his tuxedo was wrinkless and that his hair was perfectly straight.

"Hey where's the hair brush!" Yato shouted, popping his head into the room as he still had his hair in his hand looking for the brush. Yato was wearing a normal black and white suit, along with an black tie with four purple circles going down the center of the actual tie itself. Yato himself had made this special tie with his emblem. "Screw it I'm just going with a ponytail with the suit, since no one can find it!"

Yato then then started to put majority of his hair through a purple hair tie. Then before closing the gap and pulling the hair back, he let it settle for a more relaxed look and for it to set down as he liked. Zinex however laughed at him.

"Go ahead Yatoven. Make yourself look like a trap, see where that gets you." Zinex said jokingly messing up his name. Zinex was the least well-dressed out of the whole team as he wasn't one to care too much about his appearance. He was wearing a black button up shirt, much like Cypher had, and a pair of black dress pants accompanied by black dress shoes which Aura had forced him to wear. In the place of a tuxedo coat, he was wearing his normal black cloth trench coat with little to no difference although it seemed in pristine condition. It reached all the way down to just above his dress shoes and wrapped around him to leave open his black button up shirt. He also wore the same yellow lightning bolt ring he always wore on his right ring finger.

"Yeah, Yeah, laugh it up. At least I have a date unlike you jackass." Yato said in an irritated tone as he finally finished tying up his hair. Zinex's mischievous smile didn't leave face however and who knew what that meant. Yato though grinned in success, and looked at himself in a dreamy style. "Ah ha, finished!"

"Stop with the narcissism banana jama" Aura said lightly punching Yato in the shoulder as he walked over to him. Yato glared at him for a quick second then looked to the rest of the team.

"I'd say we all get out of this room, I got my date to pick up." Yato said with a wide smile on his face as he was definitely looking forward to tonight. The rest of the team, after making their finishing touches, finally left their room and began heading to the Beacon ballroom to actually make it to the dance.

"So… who did you ask to the dance?" Aura then asked about their dates as they walked the halls of the dorm building. The hallways were lively with traffic, laughing, and even some complaining but they managed to work their way through it.

"Well who are you going to the dance with Aura?" Cypher retorted back with, trying to redirect the conversation. He obviously seemed quite nervous about this whole dance despite his more serious personality.

"Don't forget about me guys." A voice called, coming out of nearly nowhere. Everyone turned towards whoever had popped in from the crowd of people to meet them and saw Celestia in a mostly purple dress with alternating green and purple frills towards the bottom of the dress, she was also wearing a pair of black leather boots along with the dress. Along with the dress was a gold necklace with an odd purple symbol hanging from it. She had a friendly smile on her face. "Hey guys."

"Wait a minute… Isn't there a girl you could have asked? Wasn't her name Vel-" Zinex started to say in his sarcastic voice but Aura quickly cut him off.

"We're just friends, seriously!" Aura said quickly, obviously getting defensive as he blushed. He sighed then continued. "We're just friends, Okay? That and her and her team aren't here, they haven't been for the past week now. And Yato, don't you dare say I could have asked Ruby, or I will smack you" He then said threateningly pointing to his teammate.

"I wasn't, I wasn't…" Yato said looking to the side. "Not at first a-" Yato started to say before he was smacked across the face by Aura. "OW! WHY!? I DIDN'T EVEN SAY IT!" Yato asked as he held his stinging cheek.

"Well I did-" Aura started to say but this time Yato was fed up with Aura's ridiculousness. While Aura had a smug look on his face, Yato winded up and hit Aura with a very light concussive slap that knocked Aura to the ground. Then it was Yato's turn to be smug.

"There you go." Yato said with a laugh then continuing to lead them to where his date was waiting. Aura got up and pushed his hair down with an angry look on his face.

"What the hell Yato?" Aura asked, his eyes red as he glared at the leaving Yato.

"You kinda asked for it bro." Zinex said with a laugh as he followed Yato with Cypher next to him, also laughing. Celestia pulled Aura along with the rest of the group as Aura grimaced.

"Well after that hilarious scene..." Celestia said blandly as she combed through her hair, which was dark brown with purple tips to match her dress. "As for me, I'm not going with anyone either, and I'm not going with Aura. No offense. Your not my type."

"None taken Celest" Aura said as a smile broke onto his face. His slightly punk friend always seemed to cheer him up, like she had this invisible power to make everyone happy.

"Anyway, fess up boys. Who are each of you taking to the dance?" Celestia said intensely to the rest of them as they walked. Cypher and Zinex immediately took an extreme interest to a scroll Zinex had pulled from his trench coat pocket.

"Well you already know mine" Yato said goofy smile as he thought of his blonde haired girlfriend. He really couldn't wait to get to the ballroom to see how his girlfriend looked in her dress.

"You… you probably we're a stuttering mess, weren't you?" Aura asked quickly with a devilish grin on his face.

Yato just inhaled heavily before continuing. "A, Fuck you. B, FUCK YOU!" He said flipping off his leader.

"Well let's hear that story since we got a ways to walk." Zinex said rather quickly with Cypher agreeing fast. Yato sighed then began the story of how he asked Yang to the ball.

 **Flashback: Four Days Before the Dance**

Yato knocked on the door to Team RWBY's dorm as he waited anxiously for someone to open the door. As he stood there he tried to think up of ways to ask Yang to the upcoming ball but things kept coming and going from his mind. He didn't want to do anything too cliche which would make his team, especially Aura, never let him forget it. He also didn't want to do anything too extravagant as Yang wasn't exactly the type of girl to like that sort of thing.

Then a delima arose when Yang's little sister Ruby opened the door. As soon as he saw her face he had an idea hit him like a smack in the face.

"Oh, hey Yato" She said in her ever so squeaky voice, but was trying to hide the surprise she had in her voice as she looked around and didn't see anyone else with him. "Is there anything that you need, you're usually with the someone else, did something happened? Are you looking for Yang?"

"Ah, no… I was wondering if you could do me a solid?" He asked as a smile appeared on his face, showing confidence when he didn't really think he had it.

"Sure! What is it?" Ruby asked in her cheery expression as Yato looked around to make sure that no one was around and from what he could see there wasn't anyone besides Weiss inside the actual dorm studying. Blake and Yang seemed to be absent. Yato leaned closer to her then dropped his voice to a whisper.

"I want you to tell Yang to meet me by the docks before curfew. I have something to tell her" He stated then stood back up and smiled. "Think you can handle that?"

"Of course Yato, good luck." She said keeping a smile on her face as she slowly closed the door to her dorm.

"Good I'll see ya at the dance, see ya!" He called before heading out to Vale by himself to make sure he had everything he would need to make this whole night perfect. He went by a flower store to buy a corsage and then went to a sewing store for needles and purple and black thread.

Once he arrived back at the AYZC dorm, which was empty as the rest of his team was gone, he pulled out his suit tie and looked for the purple thread and needle. Once he found it he began to sew his own emblem into the tie, four purple connected circles in a line going down the middle. He had it so that when the suit closes up, the circles would end at the fold between tie and jacket.

"This is perfect." He said as he held it up with a satisfied grin on his face when the door flung open and in walked Zinex. He was dripping wet and seemed really annoyed. Yato looked up at him with a confused look. "What happe-"

"Your knitting?" Zinex asked cutting him off, he had a bland look on his face as a spark popped from his hands, scaring Yato a little. "Sorry, water messes with me sometimes."

"Okay…" He muttered ignoring the obvious questions he had. "Before you say anything about knitting, trust me it's actuall-"

"Fun? Yeah I know." He said then walked over to his bed and reached under it grabbing a fire red tie with realistic looking fireballs on it. He tossed it to Yato. "Made that in my spare time, was going to give it to Cypher but I've been… busy. Haven't really had time. Give it to him for me will yah."

"Yeah sure but…" Yato said looking up from the tie but by the time he did Zinex was gone and the door was slowly shutting. Yato blinked for a second at that absolutely weird interaction then continued with what he was doing. He placed the tire he had embellished with the suit then set the suit back in the plastic wrapping and waited a few hours until it was almost nine in the evening. He quickly put his suit on and grabbed, the corsage, and head for the docks as the cracked moon in sky was right in the center of the sky. As he approached the docks he could see someone looking out towards the sea, it was Yang. Yato knew the price he had to pay to Ruby for doing this, he owed her big time. He slowly walked towards Yang, holding the corsage behind his back as he got closer. When he was behind her, he quietly and quickly tapped her shoulder, startling her. She turned around to see him in his suit, which wasn't what she had expected.

"Yato!" Yang exclaimed in surprise as he was wearing a nice black and white suit with the tie that had his emblem on it. He smiled warmly in response, gave her the corsage and without saying another word got on one knee. He looked up into Yang's lavender eyes, holding the back of her hands while Yang held the corsage, then asked her. "Will you go to the dance with me?"

The world suddenly became quiet. All that could be heard was the crickets chirping away at the night and the ocean's waves lapping at the docks. Then the loud sound of a thud pierced the air, which was the sound Yato being hit in the head by Yang, who was smiling warmly.

"Of course I will you big dolt." She exclaimed, hugging Yato tightly. After a few seconds they separated, but they feelings they had stayed.

"We should probably head back, it is almost curfew." She said looking to the side with a sigh of disappointment. Yato leans in for a quick kiss to make her feel better.

"Just a few more minutes, ok?" He asked smiling as he leads her down the docks and sits on the edge with her, holding each other's hands. This was a night that neither of them will forget anytime soon.

 **Back to The Present**

"And that's how it happened" Yato said finishing his story.

"Yay, I guest starred." Zinex said with a grin as he glanced at everyone else.

"Yeah, for once you didn't blubber like an idiot" Aura chuckled. Yato groaned and smacked his team leader in the back of the head once again."OW…"

"Wait, why were you dripping wet?" Cypher asked, bringing up a good point and Zinex sighed.

"It's a long story we don't have time for. Let's just say I was looking for something in the docks." He said, his face revealing nothing more than a soft smile, as if he had found whatever he had been looking for already.

"Anyway… What about you Zinex? Who did you ask?" Aura asked rubbing the back of his head from Yato's slap. Aura thought he had a good idea who Zinex was going to ask, though he wasn't sure as Zinex had been gone quite a lot as of recent.

"Don't worry about it. Me and Cypher would like to plead the Fifth." Zinex said blandly as he gestured to Cypher, who nodded in agreement.

"What's the fifth?" Celestia asked with a confused voice.

"Never mind, we're at the ballroom." Zinex said quickly, then shut up as everyone looked around at the large and filled ballroom. They all continued to walk together into the ballroom until Yato suddenly disappeared from the group. Everyone looked around until Aura spotted him in the distance, he was tightly hugging Yang, with Ruby by their side.

"There he is guys I f-" Aura started to say, just smiling, but when he turned back to continue to walk and talk with everyone, they had all disappeared. He was by himself now.

 **Yato's POV**

"...And that's how tank of the team became a running joke." I said as I wrapped my arm around Yang's waist. I was finishing up the embarrassing story of what had happened after initiation when we got our teams selected. I looked over at Ruby, who was struggling not to laugh but Yang was laughing and shedding tears because of it on my shoulder "Yeah, yeah, I jumped into a deathstalker. Very funny…"

"I'm… I'm sorry but if it makes you feel any better I can be the driver of your tank…" Yang trailed off waiting for me to ask what the hell she was talking about but I was pretty sure I had an idea of where this is going.

"What, the driver?" I asked in a confused tone, though I wasn't very confused.

"Yeah, so I can make you go off with a Yang " Yang said in a soft tone as she was trying her best not to laugh at her own joke. Ruby sighed loudly while made a fake laugh even though the joke had actually been funny just to mess with her. "Come on it was funny Ruby! You enjoyed it right Yato?"

I kept silent, responding with a fake pained smile on my face. Yang smiled as she gently pushed me to the side, rolling her eyes, as no one had given her the satisfaction she had wanted from the pun.

"So Ruby how about you any funny things to share with us…" I looked around and saw her gone, where had she gone? For a second I wondered how she had disappeared so quickly but then turned over to Yang "anyways… so Yang is the-"

I'd been cut off by Yang kissing me without warning before, so I wasn't too shocked by her soft lips immediately meeting mine as I turned but this time she had a different look in her eyes something was off. I wasn't quite sure what her expression represented so I broke the kiss off and grabbed her hands. "Yang are you ok, you seem… different?"

"Come on I'll make sure to fire off your canon" She said with a wink and a sly smile as she led me with her back to my team's dorm. I couldn't lie, I was definitely ready for this.

 **Cypher's POV**

I stood off to the side of the dance, watching the commotion go on and on. It was nice to finally get some time to relax as training took up so much of my time. Worry began to fill my thoughts again as I thought about Train, where the heck was my brother? I hadn't heard from him in months now and I was getting worried it had to do with those flashing lights he had been talking about.

"Cypher!" I heard Weiss's voice through the loud crowd, I looked up to see fire in Weiss's eyes. She got close to me quickly, a glare forming in her eyes. "Who did you tell ignus? Spit it out."

"Zinex…" I sighed looking down at the ground, I knew I had screwed up. "How did you know?"

"Zinex said 'Go get him' with that stupid goofy grin he always has. It was quite obvious." She said intensely, staring me down.

"Dammit Zinex." I muttered then sighed. I knew how I felt and I wasn't one to hide it, in fact this secret was too hard for me to keep. "Weiss I just..huh...I can't keep us a secret anymore, I care so much about you I…"

"Cypher I-" She started to say, losing her intensity.

"Listen my beautiful snow angel. I can't hide from this anymore. You mean so much to me you don't understand." I said, sighing as I continued. I took her hands then looked her in the eyes. "You the person that always brings a smile to my face and I cannot hide how I feel anymore and I won't. I'm sorry Weiss I care, I can't keep it like this."

"Then we… we don't h-" She started to say but I pulled her to me and kissed her. I could feel the coldness of her on my lips but I felt if easily begin to warm up as I was warm. The fire inside me and the ice inside her then melded to form perfection, perfect homeostasis. The beauty lasted just a few moments when I pulled away from the kiss. I looked at her and saw a smile on her face though it was a shy one as she wasn't one to show her feelings, that alone made me smile.

"So want to hear the story about how 'tank of the team' became a running gag?" I asked, looking into her beautiful snow white eyes once more, she smiled and gazed back into mine, still holding my hand. Her hands were as cold as ice so it felt like I was holding five little ice cubes but as I did they began to warm up and my hands got cooler, reaching that perfect temperature point.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that, I always hear that from your training sessions." She smiled, leaning in close to my chest and laying her head on it. Love burned in my heart.

"So… here's how it happened…" I said, then told her how Yato got his infamous nickname.

 **Zinex's POV**

I opened the glass doors of the balcony then walked out into the fresh night air, closing them behind me as the curtains blocked my view of the dance . I looked around the balcony and realized that I wasn't alone. I saw Blake in a black dress with a little netting over her collarbone area, though she didn't have much else to decorate the outfit she still looked absolutely stunning. She wasn't looking at me at all and seemed rather focusing on something she was reading on her scroll.

"How did I know I'd find you out here still doing work?" I asked with a sarcastic tone as she shot and eye back at me, a serious look on her face. She then turned around fully and looked me up and down, she quickly feigned a disappointed look. I copied the same look and tilted my head. Then I continued in a mocking voice. "I thought you said you were going to meet me at the front door."

"And I thought you were going to wear a suit." She chuckled and I did a fake laugh to mock her once again.

"Very funny, I never agreed to that." I started walking next to her then leaning on the balcony and looking to her as she did me. She had a look of exhaustion in her eyes which showed me she seriously needed this break. We had been at this research, reading, and planning for months now and it had seriously taken a toll on her, as it had me. At least I took time off sometimes while she didn't.

"You agreed to look nice, that was your words exactly." She said taunting me a bit but it only made me laugh. I looked down at my clothes quickly.

"And you're saying I don't look nice? I'm pulling off this whole trench coat with dress clothes thing pretty well I'd say." I said flapping my trench coat then turning around just because I could. She giggled a little then leaned on the balcony with a smile on her face as her hair slightly blew to the side, I seriously loved that smile.

"Well you do look nice…" She said tilting her head as if she was thinking but not actually looking at me.

"As I always do always." I added quickly before she could finish.

"Oh stop it." She said punching my arm lightly with a laugh. I then faked a worried face.

"Watch out with touching me, I've heard I can be quite… electrifying." I said shamelessly making the pun which made her playfully groan at my stupid joke.

"Your as bad as Yang with that one." Blake said with a smile as she looked towards me. Her amber eyes seemed to boost my mood extremely every time I looked into them, and this time was no different.

"Look the bad puns won't stop until I at least get one dance from yah." I stated but her eyes widened and her smile dropped. She had already expressed to me before that she thought she was a horrible dancer and that she wanted nothing more than to steer clear of it, but I wasn't going to let that happen.

"Oh no, I'm not-" She tried to say but I cut her off before she could make any kind of excuse as to why she couldn't. This wasn't something I was giving up on, I wanted to keep my promise of showing her a good time.

"Look we don't have to dance in there if you're embarrassed of dancing in front of others." I stated but her look didn't change at all, in fact confusion entered her expression to accompany all the other emotions.

"How could we possibly dance out out here? I can barely hear music Zinex." She pointed out, good one. I thought quickly then remembered one of the best cliches of all time.

"We don't need the music, We can just dance together. No need for beats, singing, or anything. Just us." I said straightening my body then holding out my hand for her to take.

"Z… If I can't dance with music, how do you expect me to dance without it?" She asked in an unsure tone as she looked at my hand.

"Don't worry it's gotta work, I've seen it in like two... three movies." I said with a confident grin, which made her laugh a little.

"Alright but only one dance." She stated getting a more serious look on her face. I nodded in understanding and she took my hand. I then moved one of my hands to her waist slowly as to not make her freak out, then moved my other hand into her hand and interlocked our finger, pulling her just a bit closer to me. Her breath quickened as I did this however she said nothing, but judging by the quick beating of her heart she was extremely nervous.

"There. Now all we have to do is…" I started to say, leading he along in a few short steps while no music played behind us. It was just her and I, the sounds of the wildlife, and a soft thump every once in a while that I assumed was the music of the dance. We didn't go much of anywhere as we halfstepped to our own rhythm. After a few seconds though she stepped on my toe and sent us both tripping a little.

"I'm sorry!" She said quickly as I rightened myself, though I was laughing.

"No worries, it's not like you ruined the perfect silence or anything." I said teasing her as she rolled her eyes. I quickly regained my flow then walked up to her again. "Okay let's try this one more time."

"Just one more." Blake groaned in an annoyed tone but judging from the expression on her face she was actually having fun, and that was the goal. I once again put one of my hands to her waist and the other in her hand. Slowly I began to move her side to side, trying to get her to feel the movements I was making. All the while I was staring her in her amber eyes, purely mesmerized by their beauty.

"You know. A wise man once said, 'You can see all of someone's beauty just by looking into their eyes.'" I said as she began to feel the rhythm of my movements and was now moving with me instead of me leading her.

"What wise man?" She asked, side stepping with me as we slowly began to dance around the balcony seriously getting the feel of my movements.

"Ah who knows? It's an expression my dad always used to say when I was growing up. He always loved those types of sayings. I disagreed with it though. I always said you can see every part of a person in their eyes, every emotion, and every thought if you look close enough." I said as I twirled her around a bit as a smile came over her face.

"What do you see in mine then?" She asked as we sidestepped a few times and a wide grin entered my face as a sarcastic reply came to my mind. Suddenly though as I looked deeper into her eyes, I could see the question had been a serious one. She truly wanted to know what I thought.

"Hm. Curiosity, intelligence, calmness, strength, determination." I said then took a deep breath and spun her once more. "Not to mention beauty, mesmerizing beauty."

"Zinex…" She said softly as I moved her closer and leaned her over so her back was parallel with the ground. For a moment I didn't hear a single thing besides her single breath, then I pulled her back up and felt her arms move around my torso as our dance was complete. "Thank you, I really… needed this."

"Hey that's what I'm here for isn't it?" I asked with a grin and she laughed a little as she once again made eye contact with me but she didn't move back. Instead she stayed right where she was, her face only about a foot away from mine.

"Look Z… I think I-I. Have feelings-" She started to say quickly as quickly as she could. It was as if she was forcing it out, like she knew now would be the only chance she would get.

"Ditto." I said then leaned in to kiss her and her lips met mine and that's when the fireworks went off. Streaking high above us, I heard the loud boom's of the fireworks throwing off multiple different colors. Blake broke the kiss then glanced up at the fireworks as they popped. She quickly looked down at me, confusion in her face.

"Did you plan that?" She asked as a green one went off, showing the ground in green light.

"This was actually planned for when I was going to ask you to the dance, but you and I were so busy I only ever got that small moment to ask you." I said looking up at a bright yellow firework the went off a little farther up than the others had. "The plan was to go big or go home. Luckily with Cypher and W- I mean with my other friends help I was able to move it here. I thought you would sulk the whole time so I was going to bring you out here to make you feel better."

"That's really nice of you." She said as she watched the colors explode into the night sky. I wrapped my arm around her waist as she set her head on my shoulder and we just stood there watching the fireworks together in peace.

"Yeah." I muttered with a smile. It had been so long since I had a break from the whole saving people thing, the whole solving mystery thing, and I enjoyed it. I knew it wouldn't last though, things were bound to get worse before they got better. Especially with the information I had learned, I knew after this moment I would have to tell the team, I would have to show them what I had found.

But I held Blake closer, feeling her beating heart, and stared up at the fireworks popping in front of the cracked moon. I was at peace, and I knew it had to end, so I took a deep breath and made the moment last as long as I could… ignoring the past and the future.

 **Aura's POV**

"Ugh, all alone again…" I said as I stood by the punch bowl. I couldn't believe that I was left behind again… oh well, I should've been used to this by now. When it came to these romance things, I knew I was the lonely one. Cypher always had girls fawning over him, Zinex was always hanging out with Blake working on whatever it was they were working on and Yato was usually all over Yang. I sighed then looked over to the side to see Ruby talking to Jaune, and it seemed like they were having a good time; so I decided to actually walk over and join in their conversation as I really had nothing better to do. "Hey guys!" I said getting their attention.

"Hm? Oh, hey Aura" Jaune greeted me, but he seemed… distracted by something.

"You okay, Jaune?" I asked worried about my friend. He just looked off to the side at something, I looked in the direction he was, and saw Cypher talking with Weiss, and he was actually making her laugh. I guess Jaune had a thing for her… well shit.

"It's... It's okay Jaune, you'll find someone else" Ruby said patting Jaune on the back as he sighed in annoyance, boy did I know how he felt. "You'll find someone one day."

"Don't worry I understand exactly how you feel Jaune." I muttered glancing around and noticing that Cypher had his arm around Weiss… were they...

"I know…" He said in a tone of pure sorrow as he looked at the ground. "It's just that me and Pyrrha had an argument, and… I don't know" He said putting his head in his hands.

"Jaune…" I said feeling sorry for him. I knew that he had feelings for Weiss by this point, that was painfully obvious. Though at the same time, Pyrrha had feelings for Jaune, and we all knew this. If only there was a way I could- wait a minute… didn't he and Pyrrha… idea~. "Jaune, isn't there something that you can do for Pyrrha, anything at all?"

"No…" He said, still having is head in his hands. "There's nothing I can do. Not even our- waaait a minute…" He said sounding as if he realized something.

"Hm? What is it Jaune?" Ruby asked him, unsure of what he realized. Jaune didn't respond, all he did was get up from the chair he was in, and hastily leave the ballroom, much to the confusion of me and Ruby.

"Well… that happened…" I said surprised at how fast Jaune left the ballroom.

"Yeah…" Ruby said just as weirded out as me. There was a second pause before any of us decided to do anything. "Hey Aura, follow me."

She said as she got up and lead me to up to the balcony overlooking the dance floor. When we got there, we both looked over and saw everyone having fun, some dancing, and some just talking to each. Everyone overall having fun which at least gave me some form of happiness since I didn't have anyone I could really share it with, from a love perspective. I could even see Ren, Pyrrha, and Nora having a good time down there.

"We did a good job, huh?" Ruby asked sounding amazed.

"I guess we did. It really turned out-" I began to say before I heard the sound of laughter coming closer to where we were. I looked over to the side to see Yato and Yang heading towards us, in each other's arms, with bright red blushes on their faces. As they approached I couldn't but notice several… different... things about them. Both of them had extremely messy hair and their clothes were creased at various places as if they had tossed them on in a hurry. That… and there was… a peculiar smell coming from the both of them… a smell that smelled… interesting. I tried to think of what they were doing but nothing came to mind, so I became kind of nervous. "He- Hey you two…"

"Hey Aura" Yato said sounding dazed but had the widest grin on his face that I had ever seen. "How's the dance coming along?"

"You tell me" I said gesturing to the crowd of people below us. They were all having a good time, enjoying what they had put together.

"We did an amazing job" Yang said sounding less dazed, but amazed at our handywork. "And it's good to know that whatever life throws at us, we can handle it."

"Yeah…" Yato and I said at the same time, even though I said it half heartedly while Yato said it wholeheartedly. I still had plenty of stuff to do, my family, the White Fang, Lady Iris, all these mysteries, becoming a hunter… it was a hell of a list and I had a feeling I would only add more to it. But I knew that as long as I had my friends with me, my team, everything would be ok.

"Except for that…" Ruby said suddenly. I snapped back to reality to hear a grand mass of people laughing, thoroughly confusing me. I looked down to see something that no one would expect, Jaune was standing at the ballroom door in a dress. Seeing this, I couldn't help but stare in awe as Jaune made his way through the crowd of people, increasing the laughter. Then the sound of laughter filled my ears, I looked to my side to see Yato rolling on the ground, laughing in hysterics. I couldn't help but join him on the ground, laughing just as hard at our friend's decision.

"Wh- Wh- Why?!" I was barely able to get out due to me and Yato laughing so hard.

"I don't know!" Yato exclaimed still laughing hardly. I noticed in one of his hands was a scroll, recording the whole thing."But it's funny as shit!"

As we finally calmed down, we both heard the music start to change, and the crowd below start to chear. Yato and I looked over the banister to see Team JNPR dancing in unison.

"Wow… this is… wow…" I said in awe as I watched them dance. I heard Yang start to giggle, as she quickly grabbed Yato, and made her way to the dance floor.

"This is awesome!" I heard a random guy say loudly which brought a smile to my face, it was good to be appreciated.

"So… yeah… Do you want to da-" I began to ask Ruby, but to my surprise she disappeared, leaving me by myself… again. "Awe come on! How is everyone doing this disappearing act?"

"You are so loud, you know that?" I heard a familiar voice say. I looked to my left and saw Celestia walking towards me, with a confident smile on her face. "So… how are you?"

"I'm- I'm good…" I said hesitantly, but I honestly wasn't sure. I got left alone, my parents were still missing, separated from from my family, then had to watch everyone dance while not being able to myself. Life just likes to kick me in the nads constantly, huh?

"No you're obviously not, fox." She said poking a hole in my response. "You're thinking about your life and what happened. Get over it."

'I know, I know…" I said in response to her. "I shouldn't focus on that, I just need to focus on life, and keep my head on straight. It's just that… It's just great to have a break from all the heartache and pain we've been subjected to but it's so hard to just let go."

"Yeah, it is" Celestia said actually chuckling a bit. It made me happy to see my friend actually having a good time. In fact…

I got up from the railing, and with a confident grin on my face, held my hand out to Celestia. "Celestia… Do you want to dance?"

"Would that make you happy?" She asked sounding serious, with confidence I could never muster. How she was so confident in the face of everything that's happened to her was a miracle… I wished I could have such a mindset. "Would dancing with me really be joyful to-"

"As a matter of fact, yes" I said with unfaltering confidence in my voice. Shocked for a moment, she slowly reached her hand forward and grabbed my hand firmly. I brought her closer to me and I looked her in the eyes, and started to dance to the music with her.

While we were dancing, she leaned forward and whispered something into my ear. "The others want to talk to us after the dance is over, Zinex said he found something." She said sounding serious, and leaned back up right to continue to dance. I nodded in understanding as we continued to dance, the music playing in the background along with the faint sound of what I assumed to be fireworks as we did so. Whatever the others had wanted to talk about, it had to be important if we had to talk about it right after the dance.

But for now, I was going to enjoy this.


	18. Chapter 18: Secret of the Mountain

**Location: Team AYZC Dorm**

 **After The Dance**

 **Aura POV**

After the dance finally came to a close we met back up with each other, with everyone seeming a bit… different. Yato was his usual self but had this barrier of giddiness around him like he was absolutely content with life.

"Hello there." He said in an extremely happy tone to a random person who passed by us as we walked through the halls. I looked back at the guy and saw he had a normal black suit on with an orangish yellow accent… but something about him felt wrong.

"You sure you didn't have anything to drink Yato? Nothing spiked?" Cypher asked in a serious tone but I knew he was most likely feeling better than he looked. Judging from the way him and Weiss were at the dance, there were some questions that he needed to answer, namely why were they all of the sudden together. I never had seen them interact all that much so it didn't seem right to me, but by the way they were at the dance it seemed they knew each other extremely well.

"Only thing spiked was Yang." Zinex laughed in the front of our little group, leading us to the dorm. He seemed quite different than he had before the dance. I had noticed before he wasn't looking good, something about his demeanor had seemed off. Every time we would talk I could hear the stress he had in his voice, but now something had flipped. He seemed happier, calmer, and more at peace than he had been before. It was… odd to say the least. I mean I hadn't seen him anywhere at the dance while it was happening and he didn't appear until the very end when we were about to leave.

"Quiet you." Yato said, still with a bubbly aura around him.

"You okay Aura?" Celestial asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Yes, I'm okay." I said smiling, though my curiosity still flew. What had all my friends been up to during the dance?

"Alright we're here. Does Tank of the Team wanna open the door? Or is he going to have to try it 600 times?" Zinex asked with a grin on his face as he looked at Yato, who didn't really seem to care.

"You can open the door if you want" He said with the same happy smile he had all night.

"In we go then." Zinex said opening our dorm room and instantly the lights came on. I was glad to be back in the dorm. Even though the dance had been a success, I still hated being alone… even though I should be used to it now.

"Dorm sweet dorm." I said taking a deep breath then beginning to take off the outer layers of my tux, as I was beginning to get hot until I was just left with the white t-shirt, the tux pants and my socks. All of us did similar things besides Zinex and Celestia who opted not to do so. As I changed I noticed that Yato's bedsheets were torn which brought questions to my head but he quickly pulled a blanket over it then set his suit jacket onto the bed. We then gathered around the center of the room using various chairs and beds as sitting places. Once we were all settled I turned to Zinex. "Alright, what did you want to tell us?"

"Mount Glenn, that's where we need to go next. I've been tracking a few shipments and backlogs of shipments for the better part of three months now, after the incident at the docs. After about a week of digging through definitely not stolen documents, I found something interesting." Zinex started to explain to us and we all nodded. I knew this moment would have to come eventually, the moment when things would have to get serious. "It seems a lot of what was delivered from that warehouse was printed to Mount Glenn which you know seems impossible be-"

"Because it's abandoned." Celestia said quickly and Zinex nodded.

"Yeah, why would anyone need to move shipments to and from there. It seemed fishy so I dug around some more, beat a few people up, and fell into the docks and found some jarring information. The White Fang kept most of its prisoners in that warehouse however about nearly a year ago there was a huge shipment to Mount Glenn on some untracked networks." Zinex said taking a deep breath, I could hear the stress filling his voice. "Basically the shipment was a large section of prisoners headed for Mount Glenn to be used for whatever purpose they wanted."

"Wha- that's horrible." I said in disbelief. I knew that the White Fang had been bad but this… this was horrifying.

"Yeah, luckily our White Fang friends messed up and the prisoners escaped somewhere just outside the city limits. Concurrently, there happens to be a group of bandits that have been seen out in that area by a few travelers but that they didn't attack the said travelers." He explained and I began to put together the pieces of what he was trying to say.

"You think my parents could be among those bandit-like people?" I asked quickly and he looked straight at me.

"It's a start." He stated shrugging his shoulders then looking at everyone for their input.

"Wait how are we going to get out of here? That's going to be quite the mission, and we couldn't possibly do it in one night." Cypher pointed out and I had to agree. The plan relied a lot on what could happen, and where they might be. It could take us days to find them.

"The student missions. When we go with a hunter to do some task." Yato stated.

"That's what I had in mind as well." Zinex said crossing his arms as he stood up. "Only issue is that it might be restricted to higher grades."

"Zinex, we infiltrated a White Fang warehouse, saved Celestia, and you and Cypher destroyed their underground base with a huge firestorm." I explained, we really did have a lot of achievements for being first years.

"Which nobody but us and the White Fang know about." Zinex countered. That was the sad truth in the end, the White Fang and us were really the only ones who knew about what happened two weeks ago, so there was really no way we could have a chance to go there without getting caught at least.

"But there has to be some way we can get there." Celestia said with a huff, clenching her fists. I wasn't quite sure why she was so emotional about this specific thing, but it raised my curiosity.

"Well, whatever way we can get there, we have to take it!" I said sounding sure of myself. I then took a deep breath. "Even if it means sneaking out of Beacon for a few days… this is more important than classes."

"Aura stop being an idiot and think." Yato said forcefully, getting our attention. Anger rose inside of me but I could tell by Yato's expression that this wasn't the time to be hitting him. "We can't just get ourselves kicked out of Beacon now? It's not like we can do anything but hope we can get a mission there. We can't do anything now but wait."

"That's true." Cypher said with a fist under his chin as he looked at everyone. He seemed extremely calm in this situation like the fire within him had been… calmed somehow. "All we can do now is go to bed, and hope for tomorrow."

"Yeah… fine" Celestia said sounding a bit mad. She then got up and walked to the door, opening it a bit but not looking back at us "I am going now, see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight…" We all said together, as she exited the room quickly then shut the door behind her. The members of my team all separated to finally change into our sleep clothes but I didn't. I just continued to stare at the door for I was lost in thought. I had a weird feeling in my gut for some reason, was Celestia hiding something from us? After a while, I finally got up and changed into my sleepwear, but instead of going to my bed, I went to the door.

"Where are you heading Inari?" I heard Cypher joke behind me as I began to reach the doorknob. I need to come up with something… fast!

"Oh…" I said stammering a bit. "I- I'm just heading out t- to find some… um… food to eat. Yeah, that's it. I'll probably won't be back until later, so don't look for me, bye!"

I opened the door, hastily darting out the room before anyone could say otherwise. I hustled through the hall until I was at the stairs, catching my breath due to me being physically exhausted. When I finally caught my breath, I began walking up the steps until I was on the roof. When I looked up at the night sky, the cold wind hitting my face. After wasting enough time, I decided to start to do what I came up here to do, look for Celestia.

I quickly spun my tails and flew up into the air, furthering my field of vision greatly. After about ten minutes of searching, I spotted a fire on the far side of the roof as a cold wind blew me a bit off and near the fire was Celestia. It had appeared that she had made a makeshift camp up on the same dorm building our team was on… was she living here? Curious about why she decided to live up here, I landed on the roof and made my way to her, making sure to keep myself quiet. I snuck closer, and got a good look at her well organized camp. She had a sleeping bag to sleep in, she had spare clothing and a drying rack to hang them on, and she had plenty of food and water stocked up in what seemed to be a now open cooler… she really did live up here!

"So you do live up here, huh?" I said startling her.

"How did you find me? And why are you up here?" She asked turning towards me obviously still startled. I saw a look in her eye, which told me she'd expected me to be someone else, probably Ozpin or another teacher.

"I saw the fire when I was airborne, and I wanted to talk to you." I said answering her questions honestly. She looked to the fire then began absentmindedly poking it with a stick.

"Airborne?" She asked in a slightly confused yet bland voice. I sighed and spun my tails, once again flying in the air, and landed on the ground in front of her.

"Oh" She said softly, I guess she had forgotten I could do that. "Anyway… what do you want to talk about?"

"When we were at the dorm, you seemed rather… upset about something." I said remembering how she seemed not so long ago. "What's up? Anything I can help with?"

"Oh… that…" She said looking to the side sounding… nervous, as if she were scared about something. She then foraged a fake smile on her face. "It's nothing, forget about"

"Don't try and lie to me" I said, this time my turn sounding serious. "I know it's something, it's all over your face that it's something big. So please..." I then walked and stood in front of her, wanting to get my point across further. Getting a look at her face again I saw that she was begining to sweat slightly, and the confident mask she was wearing was starting to slip. "Tell me..."

What she did next surprised me, she actually hugged me, and tightly if I might add. I was about to ask what was wrong before I felt something drop on my head, I originally thought it was starting to rain, but then I felt Celestia start to lightly shake… she was crying. What was actually going through her head right now? Not without a second thought, I quickly wrapped my arms around my upset friend and began to rub her back.

"Celestia, whatever it is, please tell me." I said serious but tenderly, trying not to cry myself. After a minute, she let go of me, but still had tears in her eyes.

"It... It- It's just that…" She tried to say without her voice breaking, but failed. And before I knew it, she broke down again, and I hugged her again until she calmed down… again. After a few more minutes of crying and consoling, she finally calmed down fully. She sat back onto the hard concrete and looked up at the partly cloudy night sky. For a moment nothing happened but I leaned closer to her.

"You good now?" I asked rubbing her back again, she didn't take her eyes off the cracked moon that dominated the sky above us.

"Yes." She said calmly, but she was still sniffling. I could tell she was seriously hurting, but unlike Zinex who seemed to be able to deal with me so easily I wasn't sure how to move forward. For a moment I tried to think back to what my lightning friend had done to calm me down, and I didn't understand how he had done it.

"Just let your feelings out, and please tell me what the hell is wrong" I asked, repeating my previous question. "I don't like to see people so… broken."

"You know how we were talking about going to Mount Glenn?" Celestia asked bringing up our earlier conversation, why would she want to bring that back up? But either way, I nodded in response. She took a breath then continued on. "W- Well, do you also remember that guy I followed before I was abducted?"

"Yes?" I said remembering the guy she had explained to us in detail. The one who had put her through so much pain.

"Well… he might be there… at Mount Glenn." She finally let out, surprising me greatly. I however wasn't ready for the next thing she was about to say. "And he might also have your parents"

"WHAT?!" I yelled instinctively. The guy she had followed so long ago, the one who abducted her, probably had my parents!? I clenched my fists as anger rose through me. "Why didn't you say anything back a-"

"Because I was afraid!" Celestia said loudly, practically screaming her words, startling me greatly. I wanted to say something, anything to her, but all I could do is stare at her in shock and awe. "I was afraid, okay? You don't understand what it's like… to be this scared."

Celestia Daken, by far one of the toughest female, besides Alice, Yang, Pyrrha, and Nora, that I had ever known… was afraid of someone she probably hadn't seen in a long time. "Why were you afraid to tell me? To tell us?"

"Think about it, I know information about your parents, how would it sound if I were to say it out-in-the-blue?" She asked me, causing me to think. If she had said that during that conversation, or any other time… we would think she would either be joking or would be a spy. "That and the guy I followed is bad news. We do not want to get involved with him."

"How so?" I asked, starting to get interested in this man. I had met many current White Fang members in my life, all of them terrible, but never had I seen someone this afraid of one. It raised my curiosity of what made this man so… terrible.

"Just trust me! It won't end well if he's involved." Celestia said with slight venom in her voice, I guess he really despised him for whatever reason. I also noticed extreme fear in her eyes as she talked about him, something was seriously up with this guy. "Aura, just- for whatever happens when you get there-"

"I know, I know. Don't let it get to me…" I said interrupting her. I then began to walk away. But before I could, she pulled my arm and made me look her in the eyes. I could see the intensity.

"If you do meet him, run. Just run, he'll kill you if you don't." She said and I was a little hurt that she doubted my abilities, but I decided against saying anything. After a few seconds of letting me digest this information she let go, allowing me to move again. "Goodnight Aura."

"Goodnight Celest" I said softly, and with that, I left. As I made my way back to the dorms, I couldn't help but think about what she told me. Just what could we be going up against, and why are they doing this? But that didn't matter right now, all that did was me getting a good night's rest, we had a lot of work to do tomorrow. I entered the room after a few minutes of walking and looked to my team, all of which were sleeping well except for Yato, he was probably just using the bathroom. I yawned then fell into my bed and fell asleep, today had been a long day.

 **Timeskip: Early Morning**

 **3rd POV**

Cypher approached the door to the elevator, confused as to why Ozpin had called him to come to his office so early in the morning. While he was confused, he saw this as a probable opportunity to ask Ozpin if they could get a mission to Mount Glenn. He had gotten here within a matter of minutes after receiving the message. As the elevator opened he entered quickly, trying to imagine how much his team would praise him if he got them the mission. A smile entered his expression as he punched the button for Ozpin's office, all the way near the top. The elevator started going up, and Cypher felt a little uneasy. For some reason he had this sickening dread that something bad was going to happen. He quickly shook off these feeling as the elevator door opened, revealing Ozpin sitting at his desk with his steaming cup sitting in front of him.

"Ah Mister Ignis. I'm glad you could join me, please take a seat." He said gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of his desk. Cypher walked over to the desk straightening his new leather jacket he had purchased after his old one had become dust. He sat down in the comfortable chair then looked in front of him and noticed another cup. This one was black coffee with nothing in it. "I've been told you take your coffee hot and without cream or sugar."

"It's not hot to me." Cypher said gladly taking a gulp of the extremely hot coffee without any effect. After Cypher set the cup down he processed what Ozpin had said. "Wait how'd you know that."

"I know quite a lot of things Mister Ignis, this is just one of the few things I have observed about you." He said also taking a sit from his cup. He then leaned on his desk. "The fact that neither heat nor fire seem to bother you quite intrigues me."

"Yeah man's not hot, what about it?" Cypher asked taking yet another gulp from his cup, nearly finishing the entire cup.

"Did your parents read you many fairy tales Mister Ignis?" Ozpin asked softly looking at Cypher intensely who was rather unnerved.

"Of course." Cypher said completely finishing the coffee. He began to feel more energized.

"Good, did you ever hear the tale of the four maidens?" Ozpin asked with a slight smile on his face. He waited for Cypher but noticed the confused look on his face. "I thought not."

 **Location: Team AYZC Dorm**

 **Aura POV**

I woke up with a feeling of fear and determination in my head. If Zinex's research was correct, I could finally see my parents after all this time, but what would I have to go through before I could do that? But that didn't matter now, I had to prepare. I got up from bed to see Cypher completely absent, Yato dead asleep, and Zinex on his scroll reading something. I noticed Zinex was changed back into his normal black clothing he always wore. I got up from my bed and also changed, getting ready for the day.

"Zinex where's Cypher?" I asked then took a drink of water. Zinex looked up at me and I saw he was extremely refreshed. Whatever had happened last night had seriously had an effect on him.

"He said he had a meeting with someone important, left in kind of a rush." Zinex said looking back to his scroll, obviously focused on something. "He left like an hour ago."

"Oh okay." I said shrugging a bit as I wondered who Cypher was going to be meeting with and when he would be back. As I finished up getting ready I heard a knock on the door, assuming it was Celestia I walked to the door and opened it but i was surprised to see an extremely wide eyed Cypher. "Hey Cypher ho-"

"Move Inari." He said quickly pushing me out of the way with a lot of force, sometimes I forgot just how strong Cypher was. He walked over to his bed then sat down and pulled out his scroll. "I… got us a way to Mount Glenn."

"What?" I asked in a loud tone as Cypher looked up from his scroll.

"Yeah… I talked with Ozpin. He said… He said he's giving us a mission to an area just outside Mount Glenn." Cypher stated, taking a deep breath as he looked at all of us. Zinex sat up from his bed and I noticed his hair was extremely messy. I looked to Yato and he was still completely asleep, not to mention snoring loudly. I pushed my hand out and smacked him with a book and he shot out of bed.

"I didn't know, Gerald." He said falling to the floor then getting back up with a confused and tired look on his face. I could only imagine what he was dreaming of.

"We got a mission to Mount Glenn Yato." I said quickly as his eyes widened.

"How did-" He yawned but Cypher cut him off.

"I talked to Ozpin, he said… he thinks we can handle our mission." Cypher said intensely as I saw Yato slowly wake up. "He said we should meet the hunter we're going to be with at a village away from Mount Glenn."

"Wait why would we meet them at where We are going, wait what is our mission?" I asked completely confused, Cypher just sighed.

"Ozpin said the hunter can't leave his post and he also said the hunter would tell us what our mission is when we get there." Cypher explained as he sighed in a slight annoyance. He seemed both worried and scared about something… sort of like I had seen with Celestia earlier.

"Great sounds like everything is going to work out. Now where's our ship?" Yato said clapping his hands together and Cypher sighed again.

"Ozpin… said Zinex would know who to talk to about a way to get there, something about the person behind the swordsman." Cypher explained and I saw a grin appear on Zinex's face.

"I know exactly where to go. Hopefully he's still where I think he is." He said standing up from his bed then stretching. "He's near the docks if I remember correctly. He's in a shop called IW Blacksmith."

"Let's go then Sparkman" Yato said gesturing to the door, indicating for him to lead us to where we needed to go. I laughed a little as Zinex looked to Yato.

"Really? Sparkman? It's lightning not sparks. Higher voltage, amperage-" Zinex started to complain but Cypher cut him off, knowing he was probably going to say some crazy things no one would understand. That was something he did often.

"Let us get ready first, quickly at that." Cypher said getting a bright red duffle bag from under his bed, how did I not see that before? Either way, we all had to make sure we all were ready before we head out.

"Okay guys, you go ahead. I'll be heading to the docks, waiting for you until you get there" I told them as I pulled my travel bag out from under my bed, luckily I always kept it packed. I then walked to the door and headed out to the hallway. While it was true that I was going to head to the dock, I wasn't going to head there right away, there was someone I had to visit before I left. Just like last night, I made my way up the stairway to the roof of the dorm building where Celestia was. When I reached the top and walked over to her little camp, I saw she was actually waiting for me, to my surprise. I walked over to her now burnt out campfire and sat next to her.

"So… you're all heading to Mount Glenn?" She said seriously, looking at me intensely in the eyes.

"Yeah… We are…" I said honestly, not wanting to lie to her nor worry her even further. As a response she just sighed, and grabbed me by the shoulders, making me look at her in the eyes.

"Just remember what I said" Celestia said with an intense, yet worried look on her face. In her eyes I saw utter pain and fear but due to her intensity I decided to ignore it for now. "If you see him at all, no matter what, you have to run! Promise me you'll run!"

I was once again in shock, whoever this guy was could pose a immense threat to us, it was obvious by the way Celestia was acting. What could be so powerful about this person that she was worried for all of us?

"O- ok, I'll promise. We'll run!" I promised her with a shaky tone, she was honestly starting to make me nervous. Just who was this guy we could face?! After holding on for a few more seconds, she finally let go again allowing me to leave. As I headed down the stairs again she said one last thing.

"Be careful Aura… your semblance really can't save you." I heard her say as I left earshot. I was fairly sure that we could handle whoever it was, but at the same time… she seemed extremely worried about us and that comment she had made about semblances not helping us put my mind at worry. This feeling lasted all the way until I had reached the docks, where the first years were all gathering. It was kind of refreshing seeing so many first years here about to go on missions of their own but I knew we weren't actually going to be traveling with them. Noticing my team in the distance standing at the very far end of the dock away from everyone, I began to walk towards them; but someone grabbed my attention before I even took five steps.

"Hey Aura!" A familiar friendly voice cried out, I turned around to see Velvet calling my name. She began to approach me with her team member Coco, I guess they just came back from a mission of their own. Excited to see both of them again, I ran to meet them.

"Hey you two, what did you want to talk about?" I asked glancing over to Cypher, Yato, and Zinex, who seemed to be talking to someone that seemed like a hiker… wait, hiker? The hiker looked a bit older but had a wide smile on his bearded face. His hair had turned white indicating he must be an older person. I quickly turned back to both Coco and Velvet.

"Hey Aura, seems like we missed a lot here didn't we?" Coco asked with a confident smirk on her face, which caused me to chuckle a bit.

"Yeah you did." I said looking back at my team who was looking around, I guess for me. "Listen, I gotta go. I'm meeting my team, I'll see you around."

"Wait!" Velvet called before I ran off, I tilted my head to the side, unsure of what she wanted. Without saying a word, Coco reached into her purse, and pulled out a royal blue silk scarf with black accents out of it, and she handed it to me. "Someone wanted us to give this to you, I believe her name was Serenity."

"Se- Se- Serenity?!" I stammered completely awestruck, Serenity… was here in Vale… and she wants me to have this scarf?! I stared longingly at the scarf I received, was it only her here? Was everyone else here? Could I see them after all this time? I completely faded out the world and smelled the scarf, after a moment I knew who this was… it was Serenity but I smelled no one else.

"Aura… Aura, you okay?" I heard Velvet say, shaking me out of my thoughts. I nodded as I looked back up at them. "Well that's all she gave us, we would have gotten more but we had to-"

The conversation paused when someone in the distance started calling "Aura" and "Inari". I turned back around and I saw that it was my team who was looking for me, I knew it was time to go. I looked back to Coco and Velvet, I noticed Velvet seemed a little worried about me.

"Well t-thanks you two, I gotta go, bye" I said quickly, finally running off to my team in the distance.

"See you later Aura!" Velvet cried out as I began to run to my friends. I reached my team after a second, who did not look pleased in the slightest.

"What took you so long, Inari?" Cypher asked sounding slightly annoyed, but had a smug smile on his face as he did so. I could definitely tell he had recovered from his absolutely odd emotions earlier. "And where did you get the scarf?"

"I'll explain later" I said wrapping the scarf around my neck in a way that one end was behind my back. "But first, are we ready to head out of here?"

"That depends, are we ready to head out captain?" Yato asked with a smile as he looked at the hiker. Getting a better look at the man, I saw that he did have mostly white hair, though he seemed ageless to be completely honestly. He wore this completely block out sunglasses similar to the ones Zinex had worn in the warehouse.

"Ah, yes. Everything's ready. By the way I'm Jack, Mr. Sharp." He said turning around to the end of the dock. The sound of a bullhead hit my ears as the wind around us started to blow harder. Within seconds a bullhead came into view and landed in front of all of us. "All aboard."

"Shotgun." Zinex said quickly bolting into the Bullhead. We all piled into the Bullhead, putting our stuff in secure compartments then sitting down.

"Hopefully he's a good pilot, he seemed a bit-" Yato started to say in a nervous tone but Cypher began to laugh.

"Hyper? Yeah I noticed that." Cypher said but suddenly the ship took of with a rumble and a bit of sputtering.

"Boy, how dare you assault my flying!" We heard a voice yell from the cockpit. We then began to shake and move in the air, indicating he wasn't the best pilot.

"I should have walked!" Yato said closing his eyes. This was going to be a "fun" ride...


	19. Chapter 19: City in Ruins

**Location: Mount Glenn and Surrounding Area**

 **Time: Moonrise**

 **Aura's POV**

"Ugh… never again will that guy fly the bullhead…" Yato said groggily as he exited the bullhead stumbling a bit, followed by me, Cypher and Zinex. I nodded in agreement as I held my stomach to keep myself from throwing up. I had to agree with Yato, for that was the most terrifying and nauseating ride of my life. I looked back at Zinex and Cypher to see how they were holding up, Cypher's steps were wobbly and uncoordinated, he looked like he could fall over any moment; while Zinex seemed completely unfazed by the ride, what the hell, how?! He wasn't just unphased though, he also had a wide grin on his face, as if he had enjoyed the ride.

"I agree…'" Cypher said following us, just as annoyed as the rest of us. We all turned back to the bullhead as Jack exited the bullhead with a hearty laughter. Despite the insane bullhead ride, he seemed like a very nice old guy. So much so, I had sworn that he was going to be our hunter but he insisted he was not one to fight anymore.

"You three just can't handle my kind of flying, unlike your friend here." Jack said pointing to Zinex, who gave him a thumbs up with a wife grin on his face. "Well AYZC, follow the path and you'll find the huntsman you'll be working with. More likely you'll hear him first...but that's if your ears are better than you take flights."

"Thanks for the ride, oh captain my captain" Zinex said with a laugh saluting Jack as he climbed up back onto the side of the bullhead. He turned back towards Zinex and a serious look entered Jack's face.

"Whatever you need, ever, you can just find me. I'll help as best I can. And remember kid, don't let that girl get to yah." He then climbed back into the bullhead and started the engines. A small amount of wind began to push around the bullhead, causing a bit of dust to kick up.

"What did he mean don't let the girl get to you?" I asked looking to Zinex who put on a pained smile and looked to me. I could see in his eyes that Zinex understood perfectly what he had been talking about.

"Not important." He said shooting it down quickly, he still hadn't told me where he had gone during the dance and he was being oddly silent about it. Without warning, the Bullhead took off with a large gust of wind leaving us all by ourselves as we started down beaten path towards what we assumed was going to be a village. We all walked in silence, probably thinking about what was ahead in our future, and what was in store for us when we found our hunter.

"Guys, this doesn't make sense. The map says we're heading for the city but Ozpin said we were meeting at a village some distance away." Cypher pointed out, looking at a map on his scroll.

"Well, he got us into Mount Glenn that's all that matters." I said happily, determined to continue along my search for answer about my parents. I tightly held onto the scarf I had wrapped around my neck as we kept walking in further silence and I couldn't help but wonder what the others were thinking. Cyphers face showed me his worry about where we were headed, I could tell he didn't like being here. Yato looked like he really didn't want to be here either and constantly checked over his shoulder every few minutes, I wondered what he was so worried about. Zinex seemed lost in thought as he stared forward, looking into the horizon.

After a while of walking we had finally made it to the infamous abandoned city, and it honestly looked menacing. There was something creepy about a large city with no one in it and this wasn't an exception. Signs hung, concrete lay everywhere, and the wind whistling through nothing but abandoned buildings...It was sad. This place was a reminder of how life can go wrong, giving off a feeling of foreboding despair as a result. Not only was a sign of failure for Remnant, but it was also a symbol of our progress as well. We used this failure to establish what to do, and what not to do in the future; and judging by where we are today, I'd say we did a pretty good job.

"Mount Glenn…" Zinex said solemnly as we all gazed upon what lay in front of us.

"So… where's the hunt-" Yato began to say before we were interrupted by a loud crash coming from our left, in a direction that seemed blocked by a crumbling building. We all looked at each other before we all ran in the direction of the crash. About three minutes later, we came to a clearing that probably once was a small park, and in that clearing there appeared to be a man in fighting a herd of ursa's and beowolves all by himself. This man either had to be crazy or plain stupid.

"Choo choo" The man yelled as he fought off the hoard. He vaulted back from the group of 8 then a grin appeared on his face and he glanced at us. He ran forward with his two arms covered completely in some sort of armor and destroyed each and every grimm as he punched with loud smashing sounds that rocked the earth below us, instantly turning whatever he had hit to dust. An ursa tried to take a shot at him from the back, but he turned around, grabbed it by the head, and slammed it into another grim. He turned around and looked at us. "Team AYZC?"

"Wait Cypher is that-" I started to ask but judging from Cyphers glare, it was exactly who I thought it was.

"Train." Cypher began angrily as he pocketed his weapons. He walked up to the man and unhesitantly kicked him in the side, pushing him forward about a foot forward. However the man, probably about 24, just stumbled and looked back over to Cypher unphased by his kick. "What the hell were you thinking, you asshole?"

"Hey little bro, how's school?" The man said patting Cypher on the shoulder, only for Cypher to knock his hand away. Cypher seemed extraordinary angry at his brother for some reason I couldn't identify.

"Shut it Train" Cypher said. I began to question why Ozpin had chosen Train to be on our mission. Wanting to find out more, I took several hasty steps toward Train, with Zinex and Yato assumingly following close behind.

"So… Train Ignus…" I began as I reached him, causing him and Cypher to look at me. Nervousness ran through my body as I looked at the man who apparently set up this mission for us. "What sort of mission do you have planned for us?"

"Mission? The mission, right…" Train said as he reached into his pocket and took out his scroll. What the scroll then displayed was hologram that showed an image similar to what Zinex displayed the night before, White Fang members, cargo ships, and what looked like a secret base. The only difference was that this image seemed more recent and in much better quality. "Well basically… what we're here to do locate a facility that's somewhere in the city that contains suspected prisoners from a warehouse that exploded in Vale, and while I have combed through this city about three times before you got here, I couldn't find it."

"Find the base? Rescue the prisoners? That's it?" Zinex asked as we all looked at the hologram before us. Looking at this image made me a tad nervous, just the sheer number of White Fang recruits was almost petrifying to look at, just what were they doing here?

"It can't be that simple!" I said in disbelief at the simplicity of the plan. "It's never that simple."

"You're right… it isn't" Train told us but he scrolled his scroll further, obviously wanting to show us something else. What he then showed us surprised me greatly, it was a video of Team RWBY stepping out a bullhead along with Doctor Oobleck. "We also have them to deal with, by any means we can't be seen by them."

"Oh… why?!" Yato said groaning as he looked at the hologram. I could understand what he was feeling, knowing that his girlfriend was here at the exact same place that we were. I knew this would put a strain on our plans, we would definitely had to reign him in. I also saw Cypher's pained expression… I had almost forgot he was dating Weiss.

"Team RWBY has also decided to take a mission here." Train said pointing out the obvious. "Along with our current mission, we cannot be found out by any of them."

"But why would they be here?" Cypher asked sounding agitated by the fact that Team RWBY was here. "What reason would Ozpin have for two separate teams going to the same place? I mean why not just send all of us?"

"Don't worry about it little brother, there are reasons that I can't discuss." Train sighed, putting his scroll in his pocket. I found it odd that he didn't tell us, was there more to this mission that I thought? "But the mission still stands, you signed up to help me find this prison camp, so let's go."

"Go where, you did say you swept the city a few times." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but I didn't do a deep check. I looked for telltale signs but found nothing. Our next step is to go through every building, I've read about what you four have done…" He said as a sly smile appeared on his face, like he knew something. "or should I say, didn't do."

"Wait what-" Zinex started to question but the sound of roaring Grimm, explosions, and a Grimm flying into the clearing stopped him.

"We have to move now." I said quickly as my team, me, and Train all bolted into the nearest building that rose high into the sky. The inside was dark and completely barren, but luckily I could still see. I assumed Yato could still see as well, but I assumed the others couldn't.

"Alright my Faunus friends which way?" Train said in a soft tone, obviously unsure of where to go. I understood why he didn't want to start a fire, might attract Grimm or even worse, an angry Team RWBY. I looked around and spotted an opening in this lobby-like area and found a small doorway. "Alright its-"

"This way." Zinex interrupted before I could finish and both me and Yato glanced at each other as Zinex began walking towards the exact doorway I had pointed out. How did he know?

"Whoa kid, your a faunus too?" Train asked extremely confused, and I had to admit… I was confused to. He seemed to navigate his way perfectly through the darkness. He turned to us with a grin entering his face.

"Faunus? Nah. Electrician? Definitely." He said as he put his hand on a small square object on the left side of the doorway. In an instant, everything past the doorway lit up revealing a stairway that ascended. "As long as I have a constant connection, we can have a dimly lit journey to the top. As far as I can tell, there's no windows the whole way up but a few doorways here and there."

"How? How do you know that?" I asked incredulously, completely confused. I glanced at everyone else and they looked the same way, except Train.

"You know, Ozpin did tell me you guys were special. This, this is special." He said pointing to the dimly lit stairway.

"How though?" Yato asked, repeating my question. "You can't know what's up there, even we can't see through walls."

"Breaks in currents, wear in circuits, things like that. I can see all of that stuff." He said shrugging as he slid his hand off the wall and the lights got even dimmer, reducing to a faint glow. "There's a few batteries in the basement that charge these emergency lights, should last about an hour if I'm right. We should get climbing."

"What do you mean you can see all that stuff." I asked him as we began climbing what was probably going to be a long journey up.

"It's not really sight, it's like feeling a part of your body. It's weird. Like you know how you always know where you hand is without seeing it?" He asked and I nodded. "Its like that. If I reach out, I can feel electricity like that. Then I can guess by how they ran the wires what's around it. Sounds odd but it's become basically normal to me now."

"Wait can you see people?" I asked thinking back to the warehouse when we had gotten separated from each other.

"Barely, it's like a faint glow for me. If your behind something not to dense like dirt or a table I could probably make you out but seeing through buildings and concrete and stuff is like impossible." He explained. I honestly felt that weird but I wondered what exactly he saw when he looked at us now, we're we just blobs or pulsing?

"Oh." I muttered as we walked further up. As we ascended it became obvious that this building was supposed to be an office of some sort, judging by the amount of cubicles we saw on the way up. After a few minutes of walking we had made it to top floor of the building, because access to the roof was blocked by huge pieces of concrete. "So… where do we go now? It's not like there's a hol-"

"BOOM!" Yato yelled, cutting me off as he hit the large piece of concrete blocking the way up to the roof. The concrete cracked immediately, splitting the large piece of concrete into separate pieces. The pieces then fell, causing a lot of debris and rubble to cover us. All of us coughed as we looked back towards the now open doorway. "I did it!"

"So… now what?" I asked as we continued on our way to the top of the building. We all reached the very top of the building and exited the interior. The view the building gave us was both amazing and terrifying at the same time. We got a perfect view of the demolished city, unfinished buildings, rubble, and grimm crawling everywhere… it all seemed hopeless.

"... On to the next building?" Cypher asked walking back to the hole Yato made.

"But how can we navigate the city easily?" Yato asked crossing his arms. "If we all go down to the ground level,we'll run into Team RWBY. If we run into grimm, we attract Team RWBY. If we run into the wrong building, we might run into White Fang soldiers and attract Team RWBY. And it's not like all of us can fly, only Aura can do that."

"Good point." I said quickly glancing up at the cracked moon which dominated the sky.

"It's a good thing you can do that" Zinex said not mentioning his armor; but I guess it would make sense he wouldn't. He had told me quite oddly that he wanted it kept a secret but wouldn't explain why, being the loyal friend and teammate I was, I said I would keep it secret.

"Okay then, new plan" Train said walking up to the hole in the roof. "Most likely RWBY and Oobleck are going to be travelling and fighting Grimm during the day time and follow their mission. We are going to travel and search by night and rest during the day. We'll split up and meet back here. Aura and Zinex you take that side. Cypher and Yato you take the opposite. I'll head for the perimeter, call me on my scroll if you need me. Sound good to everyone?"

"Okay boss." Zinex said saluting then vaulting off the building into the darkness below. He seemed to disappear into the shadows. No one seemed very surprised though, Zinex was always doing crazy thing of that nature, not to mention his ease at landing back months ago.

"Okay, sounds like a plan." I said as I flew off to the closest building. Now… let's see if we can find any clues.

 **Timeskip: 2 Hours Later/ 15 Buildings Later**

"Anything yet…?" I asked feeling extremely tired, for this was the fifteenth building I went through tonight, not to mention all the other one my teammates had searched. I had been sure we would have found something by now, but nope, nothing to be found at all.

"Nothing…" Zinex confirmed, showing no signs of fatigue at all. If I just had an ounce of his energy right now...

"Let's just call it a night." Cypher said sounding agitated, we had been searching for a good while now, I was in agreement for calling it a night and turning in but unfortunately I was not leading this mission.

"Come on, one more building" Train said sounding hopefully as he pointed to one last building in the distance. The building looked like any other building, except it looked as if it were made of cobblestone instead of concrete… weird. As Cypher and I groaned in exhaustion, we all once again descended down the building as I took into the air once again towards the building Train pointed to. I honestly need a moment with myself, just a moment to breathe.

"We can't just stop here, no, we have to look at one more building" I complained to myself as I landed on the roof of the odd building. "Ugh, let's just get this over with."

Descending down the stairs to the top floor, I immediately started to notice difference in this building than the others. There was a complete lack of rubble and debris, there was what appeared to be a square window carved a wall. Not only that, in front of various other holes in the walls there were tarps hung in front of them, was someone living here? I heard something shuffling behind me, and before I had time to react I was suddenly swept to to the ground, and pinned down.

Slightly dazed from being knocked down, I looked up to see what appeared to be a trident pointed directly into my face, and what appeared to be a feminine face staring intensely at me, however I couldn't tell correctly at the moment as my vision was all sorts of blurry.

"Who are you, and why are you here?!" The feminine sounding voice asked, sounding mad. The trident got ever so closer and I seriously didn't like how each of the blade tips were different colors.

"Aura Sharp! And I'm here on a mission, I mean no harm!" I spat out in fear, the fact that she was holding her weapon to my eyes didn't help me any much. I saw her grip tighten on the base of the weapon, but she let it go and got off of me. She stepped back a bit further, putting some distance between her and I. I could tell she was still a bit nervous. I got up slowly and looked to her, and now that my vision had cleared up I could really see who I had happened upon. Before me, was a girl about 17 who had pale skin, clear light blue eyes, long silver hair that reached slightly below her waist, and appeared to be about 5'7. She was wearing a short dark blue skirt with a gold trimming and darker blue frills at the bottom, to compliment the layering of the other two colors. She wore a buttoned up dark blue vest that matched with her skirt with white accents, along with a matching bow on the neck of it. I felt my cheeks slightly burn as I awkwardly stared at her, not knowing what to say.

"Sorry about that…" She said softly in a tone of curiosity, it probably wasn't everyday that someone came into her home from above. "My name is Rain Clarity, nice to meet you Aura."

"N- Nice to meet you too Rain." I said in an extremely tired tone, the weight of the search and little rest was beginning to get to me.

"Are you okay there Aura?" Rain asked in a worried tone of voice, nearing me just a little bit as if to see if I was in any pain.

"Y-yeah I'm fine totally fine" I said as my cheeks turn to a red that even a tomato would be surprised at the color, I look around anywhere else to avoid the awkward situation I put myself in. I looked to her and didn't know what else to say and honestly, it seemed she didn't either. For a few moments it stayed like this until...

"OH HELLO THERE." A loud voice bellowed through the hallway. Without warning, Rain threw her trident passed me and at whoever had entered the hallway. I spun around and saw Zinex holding his sword in the cobblestone floor, blocking the trident Rain had thrown. He looked back up at us with a grin. "Now that's a spikey pole."

"Zinex? How'd you get here so fast?" I asked completely startled and confused. He grabbed the trident from off the ground, and pulled his sword out of the cobblestone floor. He then tossed the trident back to Rain, who caught it expertly. He glanced at me with a sarcastic look.

"C'mon dude? Did you lose your memories on the flight?" He asked me. I shook my head, realizing my stupidity. Of course he got up here fast, he could run incredibly fast.

"Where are the others?" I asked worried about the rest of my team and Train.

"Taking the stairs at a much slower pace." He said then glanced over at Rain who seemed a bit unnerved by him.

"I feel like I have seen you before." She said softly analyzing him but a confused look entered his face.

"Maybe, I was around here a long time ago." He shrugged looking away from her but she continued to stare, a baffled look on her face. He then looked around at the place and seemed a bit curious. "What is this place?"

"My home, it… was some others home as well but they are…" She started to say then looked at all the empty bunks that looked like they were decaying. "They are gone."

"Damn…" Zinex muttered as he disappeared into one of the many rooms that were around. I wondered what he was looking for, if anything.

After a few minutes of just looking through the rooms of this odd building, I heard the sound of two exhausted persons and heavy footsteps. I quickly bolted out of the room I was in and looked into the main hallway, where Rain was holding her trident in an angry manner. I saw Yato, Cypher, and Train all walk into said hallway.

"We- we'r-" Yato wheezed out before passing out, guess he had it the roughest out of all of us.

"We're here" Cypher said finishing Yato's statement as he looked around the room. His eyes glanced over to Rain, and he paused for a good three seconds before taking out his weapons and pointed them at her threateningly. As response, she raised her own weapon out and did the same, this wasn't going to end well…

 **10 Minutes Later**

That turned out better than expected… which is weird. Before a fight could break out, I quickly explained what happened, and had Zinex and Rain confirm it. Not only that I kind of blurted out the mission we were on… for some reason, why would I do that? Anyway… we took a few minutes to rest and go over what we had found out today. Cypher and I were sitting with our legs crossed, Yato was laying in his sleeping bag,Train was maintaining the fire, Zinex was leaning against the wall while playing with his ring absentmindedly, and Rain was looking out the tarped window in a very nervous manner.

"So in the end, we found nothing!?" I asked in hushed anger, now would not be the time to be found out by Team RWBY. I felt so frustrated that we couldn't locate a single thing in all this time we had spent.

"Nothing…" Yato groaned in frustration as he held his head. Thoughts of despair filled my head, had we really done all this for nothing.

"Ugh, let's just go home guys. This is pointless bullshit…" Cypher said starting to get up from where he was sitting and throwing an old book he had been looking through at the wall. Tensions were definitely high. "So what if we run into Team RWBY!? Let's just go!"

"Would they be a group of girls accompanied by an adult?" Rain asked out the blue, throwing all of us off.

"Yeah, why?" I answered her question by asking one of my own.

"Because they're about to jump down a dark hole." She then said to the surprise of everyone in the room. Wanting to make sure she wasn't messing with us, Yato and I ran over to the window to see if it was true, and sure enough it was. I pushed the tarp slightly to the side then looked out and saw Team RWBY looking down into a dark hole in the middle of the street.

"Ya-" Yato began to cry out loudly before I quickly covered his mouth. I looked him dead in the eye as he struggled to say something.

"Now would not be the time to be caught pinhead." I said in an extremely annoyed tone. I let go of him then looked back outside the tarp and saw that they were gone, they must have gone down the hole. "They're gone."

"Well at least we can search during the day" Cypher said sighing in relief, though I felt he and Train were the only other ones that were happy. Zinex, Yato, and Rain seemed a bit… off.

"That's true, with them out the way we can explore the city without getting caught." I confirmed in a slightly worried tone of voice. Why had they gone down the hole? It just seemed odd to me. "Now can me get some sleep, Train?"

"Yeah, I suppose so…" Train said to the joy of everyone else, finally we could go to bed! All of us then began setting up for sleep, sadly I couldn't change into my ukata as there really wasn't a place to stay completely away from everyone and change at the same time. I was about to lay down in my sleeping bag when I couldn't help notice that Rain was just lying on the cold hard floor, staring up at the ceiling.

"Aren't you cold Rain?" I asked as she slightly shivered, did she not have a blanket?

"N- N- No, I'm good" She lied giving me a false smile, but I wasn't having it. Reaching into the duffle bag I packed, I pulled out one of the two comforters I had packed just in case it got really cold here, and gave it to her.

"You need this more than I do" I said warmly as she reluctantly accepted it, and began to wrap herself in it. When I saw she was warm, I wriggled around in my sleeping bag to make myself comfortable, and proceeded to finally head to sleep. "Goodnight everyone…"

 **The Next Morning**

When I woke up the next morning, I looked around to see if everyone was still here. And as per usual they all abandoned me, except for Rain who was still lying near the window, fast asleep. I got out my sleeping bag and stretched out the various knots in my body, it's weird to sleep on the hard floor when you've slept in a bed for half a year. Thinking it was time to head out, I went over to Rain in order to wake her up.

"Rain…" I whispered as I lightly shook her, and I had to admit… she kind of looked adorable. I shook her one more time and spoke a little louder. "Rain, wake up!"

"Mmhg… Aura…?" She yawned as she opened her eyes and began to wake up. I took a step back as she got up out her covers and started to stretch. She looked around a bit confused. "Where are the others?"

"Probably out searching again…" I groaned as I unpacked my stuff. Now that Team RWBY was gone, we didn't need to worry about being discovered. Thoughts of why they had disappeared still flew through my head however, why had they gone down the hole. "If we can only find the White Fang's base that's located here, we could leave sooner…"

"Are they the group that keeps going through the abandoned shopping district?" Rain asked, surprising me. I looked at her very slowly, stopping everything I was doing.

"You've seen where they go!?" I asked astonished at what she had said. I couldn't believe we had been so stupid not to realise the key to knowing where they were had been Rain.

"Yeah, I have" She said opening the tarp that covered the wall. In the distance I saw what appeared to be a great mass of ruined buildings huddled together, I guess that was the shopping district. It seemed even more depressing than the other buildings looked, and dread filled my mind as I looked at the buildings. "They pass by here every other day. Do you want me to lea-"

"Yes, obviously!" I said grasping her shoulders. Reading my tone of voice, she fixed her clothes and hair in a haphazard manner, grabbed her trident off the ground and began leading me out of the building. As we began walking towards the shopping district, I pulled out my scroll and tried to call my team mates. I tried Yato and Cypher first but they didn't answer, so lastly I tried Zinex who picked up rather quickly. I was immediately blasted with sounds of roaring, yelling, and destruction.

"What's up?" He asked with a grin on his face as he dodged an explosion of rubble. Confusion again filled me, where were they? The video then staticed out a bit as Zinex sliced at something I couldn't really see.

"Whe-" I started to ask but a loud clap of thunder cut me off.

"Make it quick please, customer support is busy dealing with..." He said holding his hand out then another loud clap of thunder sounded. He then looked at me with a grin of pure confidence that he always had "a rude guest."

"Rain gave us a lead, go to abandoned shopping district, it's a cluster of absolutely ruined buildings. They look worse than any other place in this city." I said giving a brief description and he nodded.

"Got it, looking for the shopping district. Cypher needed new clothes anyway, he's starting to smell like burnt toast." Zinex said now dodging a flying red object. "Hey you called me Sparky, that's what you get!"

"Just let me-" I started to say but then the connection dropped out and he disappeared, though I still heard rumbles of thunder in the distance. I sighed as I put my scroll in my pocket.

"Your friends are odd." She said in a curious tone as she continued walking.

"You don't even know…" I muttered following her lead.

 **30 Minutes Later**

"So that's how the 'Tank-of-the-Team' became a running gag" I said finishing my explanation of the joke to Rain, causing her to giggle sweetly. The both of us were at the shopping district waiting for my team to meet us here, how long could that fight have possibly taken? I shook the thoughts out of my head and continued. "But what he doesn't know is the fact that I recorded how he took it out."

"Really? Mind if I see?" She asked looking at me with those beau- kind light blue eyes of hers, what was with me recently? Nodding, I took my scroll out and played the video of Yato going inside the Deathstalker and killing it from the inside. "Oh my…"

"Buddy your arm was a bit shaky." A familiar voice said from behind startling us excruciatingly. Rain immediately had her weapon on the stranger, and I merely looked back. When I looked back, I saw Zinex looking at the video that was admittedly a bit shaky. He had Rain's trident pointed to his chest but he showed no other emotion but his jokester persona. "Can you tell new girl to stop trying to make me into a kabob?"

"What's a kabob?" I asked confused as Rain lowered her weapon.

"Never mind." He said, his grin dropping. It seemed like he had said something he hadn't meant to.

"Anyway, this the place? Looks pretty barren to me dude." He said standing up then looking around at the ruins. I could see a melancholy expression flicker on his face but then quickly disappear.

"According to Rain it-" I began to say before I heard a loud crash behind me. I looked back to see a large cloud of smoke emerging from one of the alleyways leading into this little area of the shopping district. From the smoke come Yato, Cypher, and Train all looking rather scared. I quickly ran up to then and looked at all of them."What the hell happened?"

"Don't… worry about it." Cypher said as he, Yato, and Train dusted themselves off. I heard yet another large thundering sound followed by crashing noising and more smoke.

"We might have broken a building." Train admitted looking back towards the now smoky part of the sky. Then another large boom pierced the area.

"Or two." Yato said in a guilty tone as they all turned back to the small area we were in. "So this is where we're supposed to be?"

"According to Rain it is" I admitted, I wasn't sure why, but I completely believed in her. It was as if something inside of me just trust her and I couldn't figure out why. We all then began to search around, looking for something that screamed secret base, secret door, secret hatch, or even a sign of some sort… nothing. I was so frustrated I flung a small rock through a decaying window, why was my luck so bad. "Are you sure you sa-"

Before I could complete my statement, a loud hiss caught my ears. I turned in the direction of the sound, which was coming from inside the mall, and saw a large metal door open up. From that door came a dozen armed White Fang members in buggys, getting ready to go somewhere. They all seemed rather furious about something.

"Hide!" Train whispered to us, not that we needed to be told that. We all jumped back and hid behind the various rubble surrounding the entrance as they drove past us.

"The trains about to reach the city." I heard one of their walkies say… what did that mean? After a few moment the sounds of their vehicles disappeared and left us with the quiet of the abandoned city. We all slowly got out of our hiding spots and looked at the massive door that opened. That's where it was hiding, in an abandoned mall in an abandoned city all this time!? Whoever was in there was going to get what was coming to them.

"Come on!" I said as I ran straight to the door, not caring if I'm seen or not. I had a feeling- no, I knew one or both of my parents were here. It was like a pull from something else, like something was telling me they were here.

"Aura, Wait!" Heard Zinex yell as he and everyone else caught up to me. I tried to open the large hatch to no avail. I then focused and pushed my semblance hard to try to lift the door but nothing except groaning metal could be heard. I wiped sweat from my brow and tried again, not matter how hard I tried though I couldn't do it.

"Open!" I yelled loudly kicking the door, which did nothing to help but it made me feel better. I felt a hand grab my shoulder and turned to see Zinex looking serious.

"Dude chill I got this." He said as Yato punched the metal but even his most explosive punches couldn't break the metal. I really felt we were lost. I watched as Zinex walked around and looked at the metal intensely, like he was about to obliterate it. He walked around the large plate then quickly jolted forward at the back end and placed his hands on the very edge. He took a deep breath then I heard the plate began to hum very quietly, quieter than any normal human could hear. Then the same hissing sound I had heard earlier pierced the air and the plate began to rise, revealing the entrance to the base. "Hurry, get inside."

"Right." Yato said, being the first one to go in then we all followed. The inside of it was surprisingly nice, no dust, bright red paint covering the walls, and the floor was surprisingly polished; however there was nowhere else to go in here. The feeling of secrecy and darker tones that could be felt here was almost overpowering, was this really the base? It seemed rather small to be anything more than a vehicle storage. I heard the door above begin to close then Zinex jumped in, landing beside me. The door then closed, effectively closing the rest of the world off.

"Well this is…" Yato began as he looked around.

"Surprising…" Rain said with a nervous chuckle as she tightened the grip on her trident. the ground shook, surprising us all. Seconds later, the floor started to descend downward… was this an elevator!? No one said anything as we continued downward, the overhead disappearing quickly as we did so. After a minute or so the elevator finally stopped, but instead of a door opening up, the sides and ceiling of the elevator rose up, leaving us in what I assumed to be the garage.

"Now this, this is what I expected!" Train said holding is arms out. In here there were various vehicles, buggy's, motorcycles, bullheads, and various others. "But… where's the holding cells?"

"We just got here! How are we supposed to-" I began to fuss before one of my fox ears caught something. In the distance I could hear the sound of two male grunts and the clanging of metal. One grunt sounded rough and yet young, as if they were trying to destroy someone. The other sounded… almost as if… wait… dad? Once again, without thinking of the consequences, I ran off in the direction off in the direction of the voices to confirm my suspicions. "Follow me!"

"Really, again!? Aura! Not again…" I heard someone say loudly as I bolted down a hallway I thought I heard the clanging coming from, getting closer and closer to the voices, what was happening. Before long, I made it to an open area that seemed to be a dark and empty storage place, and in the middle were two people fighting with swords. One of them was wearing dark black, rough travellers clothing and had eyes that were pure red. He seemed rather young and had an insane grin on his face. He was what I assumed to be a panther faunus. He had black cat-like ears and a large tail coming from behind him.

The other fighter however, was in a red tuxedo with a blue belt, black dress shirt and dress shoes. He also wore a black tie and a black pair of gloves. His clothes however had various cuts in them, as did his skin meaning his aura was depleted. As I watched them fight, I noticed the man in the red suit's… eyes… changed… colors…

"Dad…?" I muttered out as I stared at the man in question. For a moment, both fighters turned to me, and one in the suit's eyes widened. I saw pure emotion rise in the man's eyes as he looked me up and down, as if in disbelief.

"Aura…?" He asked sounding dumbfounded, was this honestly my dad!? Could I actually reunite with him after all this time? But my question rang unanswered as he was caught off guard and knocked to the ground on his stomach roughly. I heard a loud grunt come from him as he hit the ground hard, obviously in pain.

"Aura?" The panther faunus said getting a good look at me as he stood on who I would assume was my father's back. He then cracked a a terrifyingly creepy smile as he began to laugh maniacally. With every bit of his laughter my skin crawled, his entire demeanor made me sick to my stomach. "Oh, this is perfect! Aura Sharp, here in the flesh! Oh, how your parent's have talked about you! My name is Ken, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Get off him!" I cried as I took a shaky step forward, only for him to step harder on my dad's back causing my motions to come to a halt. I didn't want to have him harmed, I knew I had to get him out safely, but how.

"Who, him? Did someone come to get their parents?" Ken asked pointing his blade at my dad's back. I heard my dad whimper a bit as the blade bore into his suit. Fear filled my heart but luckily I wasn't alone, I felt a hand on my shoulder and quickly glanced back. Zinex was by my side, but where was everyone else. "Nice of you to join us Zeno, I see the trap didn't slow you down as it did the others. I expected as much."

"If you know what's good for you, step off him." Zinex said pointing his railgun-sword right at him threateningly, I saw rage had filled Zinex's eyes. Gone was the happy go lucky Zinex, he was serious. He then glanced at my dad then to Ken. "Step off, and walk away. This doesn't need to happen. You won't like the ending Kenny."

"Okay…" Ken said calmly, yet sounding almost hurt. He raised his foot letting my dad stand up, and took a step back. My dad brushed himself off and took a good look at me, after all this time… I get to reunite with him. He smiled at me, proud of how we had saved him. He began to walked towards and I relished in this moment, pure joy filled my heart.

My mind couldn't comprehend what had happened next, but it happened nonetheless. Ken grabbed my dad by the shoulder and jabbed his sword through his back, right through his heart. A loud gurgling sound filled the air as I watched my dad struggle to breath. He fell to his knees as a look of surprise filled his face. He tried to take another breath but Ken smiled smugly and twisted the blade. After a few seconds of nothing my dad went limp, his eyes lost all their color, and he slouched on the blade, for all life left had his body. Seeing this, Ken pulled his blade out and kicked him down to the ground, leaving his blood to pool. I just stared at my dad's now lifeless face as all hope bled out of me like he currently had. Never would I know what he was like, what he laughed at, what he was proud of.

"Oh, the look on your faces are just PRICELESS!" He hysterically laughed loudly, blood dripping off his sword as he did so. I could hear the insanity in his voice but the deafening sound of silence filled my ears. Realty didn't feel real. "Did you honestly think I would let him live!? You are just as foolish as your friends. Like him, everyone here will perish."

I wasn't paying attention to him at all though, I was to busy looking at my father's corpse. His blood pooling around him, staining his already red suit in the process. When I finally understood what happened, I broke down completely. I feel to my knees as the world around me lost all sound, and grew dark and blurry. As much as I wanted to deny it, I couldn't anymore… I had to face what had happened but my body couldn't...

My father… was Dead.


	20. Chapter 20: Life in Ruins

**Location: White Fang Storage**

 **Zinex POV**

"Really, again!? Aura! Not again…" I called out to him as he bolted of extremely quickly into the large vehicle storage area. I tried to chase after him but his sudden movement had caught me off guard. He ran for a second then went through a set of door leading away from the garage and deeper into the base. I reached the doorway but immediately a huge metal door slammed shut, locking me out. I looked around the black metal door, looking for any sign of electricity to power the door like I had on the door leading to this base but found nothing. It was locked by mechanics and gears, which meant there was nothing I could do. I growled in annoyance as I looked behind me only to be met with an explosion that temporarily blinded and defended me. I only heard loud ringing sounds for a few second and felt extreme amounts of heat, what the hell had happened. After a minute my vision came back to me and I saw hell.

In front of me was a huge gap in the ground, reaching into pure darkness filled with fire going up the sides of the huge gap. I lifted my vision higher up to where the rest of my friends had been before I took off and most of them seemed to be completely unconscious on the other side of the huge gap. Yato and Rain were crawling closer to each other as a large fire cracked around them, trapping them. Train was completely unconscious and lying under a piece of a car, obviously hurt. Cypher was struggling out from under some debris that had covered him. He finally managed to get up and turn to me.

"What happened!?" Cypher yelled across the gap as he tried to dust himself off. I groaned as I tried to look across the gap, looking for any way to reach them but I couldn't find any way.

"Don't worry about it! Help the others out I'll go for Aura!" I yelled back as Cypher then looked around and saw the state everyone was in, he clenched his fists and silently cursed, as if someone wouldn't hear him.

"Okay I'll handle it!" He yelled back as he bolted for Yato and Rain, who were inching closer and closer together. The fire was beginning to enclose them. I looked back towards the door, irritated at this situation. Every time it had to be a trap. I looked around the door and noticed they had made a vital mistake in their design. I activated the railgun feature of my weapon and pushed the two separated blades into a small slit in the top of the door and pushed the sword nearly all the way through to the mechanics. I then loaded an Ice Dust crystal into the ammo slot at the bottom of the hilt and pulled the trigger.

I was flung to the ground by the shear force of the blast along with my sword but my theory had worked. I looked up and saw the door tilt and fall inward, no longer supported by the mechanics. I quickly bolted into the long hallway, noticing it looked pretty dark. Dread filled my head, I hated dark hallways. Dark hallways always represented something painful, like running to the enemy.

"Who, him? Did someone come to get their parents?" I heard a insane sounding male voice speak. I ran into a large storage room that seemed to go on forever as the edges weren't lit at all. I looked at the insane man and saw he looked rather vagabondish in his black traveling clothes. He looked nothing like a White Fang leader or member to me. He looked to me with a grin on his face as I switched my rally in back into a sword. "Nice of you to join us Zeno, I see the trap didn't slow you down as it did the others. I expected as much."

"If you know what's good for you, step off him." I said with a growl. His trap had nearly killed me and the people I cared about, anger consumed my body. I knew I couldn't make any rash decisions however, those always led to unnecessary pain in my life. I took a deep breath then looked the red eyed faunus in the eye. "Step off, and walk away. This doesn't need to happen. You won't like the ending Kenny."

"Okay." He said letting go of what I assumed to be Aura's dad. A bad feeling began to rise in my mind and it was warranted. With a speed that surprised me, the smiling form of Aura's dad turned into pure fear when Ken's sword went right through the man. Aura's dad quickly dropped and passed into death, infuriating me. The insane Ken obviously found this hilarious and began to bust out in laughter. "Oh, the look on your faces are just PRICELESS!"

"Asshole!" I yelled point my sword at Ken and nearly blasting him to death, but I quickly remembered this sword couldn't take that kind of power throwing me off my attention.

"Cat caught your tongue?" He asked with a grin of pure insanity. He then shot forward at Aura, murder in his body language. Faster than he could get to Aura though, I slid in front of him and blocked his sword strike. A loud clang sounded through the storage area.

"Aura, move!" I yelled to my friend as I held Ken back, only to see him motionless on his knees. It pained me to see him like this, the one person that I opened up to the most was completely devoid of any emotion, it was depressing; yet at the same time maddening. I could tell he wasn't connected to reality at this point, which pissed me off even more. I felt the fake aura I kept up increase in power rapidly, making my body glow very slightly as It broke into the realm of vision as I turned to Ken, glaring into his red eyes. "You monstrous piece of garbage!"

"I'm the monster here?! What about you Mister Zeno!?" Ken asked laughing crazily, blocking a sword strike I carelessly let out. He was really starting to make me mad, I sliced out again but he easily dodged me… How was he moving so fast? "How can you say that if you-"

"Fuck off!" I yelled kicking him so hard he flung back into an empty storage crate. I heard a grunt then he slid down the crate onto the floor. I ran straight to Aura and found he was still in that zombie-like state. I heard Ken getting up so I quickly wrapped my hands under Aura's arms and dragged him near the hallway I had entered through. He made no sound or any movements, just looking into nothingness with those glazed over eyes.

"You'll have to try harder than that Zeno." I heard Ken say behind me, putting an emphasis on my name.

"Stay. Right. Here." I said with a growl to him but Aura gave me no indication he had heard me. I turned around the face Ken and saw he was fully healed, how the hell? "Your healed? Impressive, you heal a bit faster than the rest."

"Yes, it appears I do Zeno. Confused?" He asked opening his arms wide, he really didn't know what was about hit him.

"I'm done with this." I said in anger then lifted my hand up and let loose a powerful bolt of lightning. Anger clouded my thought process and the control I put on the volume of the bolt was not longer there causing a loud boom to reverberate through the room. I blinked then looked towards what I thought was going to be a very injured Ken, but he was merely standing in place holding the lightning I had just fired in a ball. "How in tarn-"

"It seems you don't know as much as you think Zeno. We know quite a lot about you, we've learned a lot. Like the fact you don't have an aura, and your very ignorant to history. Raises a lot of questions Zeno." He laughed as the lightning bolt evaporated, its energy depleted. I was completely bewildered on how he had done that. "Obviously Zeno you haven't studied us as well as you thought. I assumed little Celestia would have told you everything, then again you are a bit special."

"Just spit it out so I can hurry up and kick your ass." I said putting as much guard in between Ken and Aura, it was obvious he really wanted to kill him.

"He… blocks… semblances from… working." I heard Aura croak out in a very broken voice, I could hear every ounce of pain he was feeling. This only made me grip my sword harder, then I laughed realizing what this all meant.

"Oh right, I'm a special case because you can't negate my powers." I taunted which caused his smile to waver a bit. "Look man, sometimes your thing just doesn't work out. Don't get overloaded now."

"I won't." He said swinging his hand out as I fired a lightning bolt at him. It ricocheted and slammed into one of the walls causing a loud pop sound. I ran forward firing yet another bolt, which he blocked, but he wasn't ready for my sword strike. I slammed the hilt of my blade into his chest, causing him to hit the floor immediately.

"And I though black panthers were supposed to be cool." I taunted straightening my trench coat but I was surprised to see a blade flying at my face. I shot my blade up and managed to block it but a sharp pain hit me in my leg. I stumbled back and glanced down, he had stabbed my leg with a tiny knife. I pulled it out and threw it at his stomach but he dodged out of the way. He laughed as he looked at me and down to my leg as the wound began to close.

"I didn't believe it when Iris told me but it's true, you don't have an aura. Nor can I stop your semblance from working. Just what are you Zeno?" He asked spinning his sword then lashing out. I barely managed to block his strikes but then he shot behind me, sword out… He was going for Aura. I quickly dropped my weapon and grabbed the blade of his sword, pain immediately jolting through my hands as they began to bleed. The sword did move an inch further and I looked into Ken's crazy eyes.

"Just a regular guy trying to do right." I said, then my blood fully covered a part of the sword giving me exactly what I wanted. I gripped the sword a bit harder then forced lightning from inside my body right into the sword causing it to buzz rapidly, he tried to jerk his hand from the sword to no avail. I had a tight grip on the sword which led to its demise. Within a second the sword began to crack, the metal not being able to withstand the sheer vibration the electricity was causing. I quickly let go of the sword then kicked him back while he was distracted, I saw him slide under a few crates that were suspended by some wires.

"Stupid prick!" I heard his insane voice boom as he stood up. I saw his red eyes were bright and his expression screamed murder. "You won't leave here alive! Unlike that boys mom, you won't escape the White Fang. Iris was very unhappy when she escaped so many years ago."

"We're getting out of here whether you like it or not Ken." I said grabbing my sword off the ground. He then glanced up above me and grinned. He moved over to one of the wires that went up into the rafters.

"That's what you think Zeno, sword may not kill you but this will." He said cutting the wire, but he had made a vital error. With a quickness, the crate above him, filled with pieces of steel and iron by the looks of it, fell down. The last sound Ken made was a helping sound as the crate engulfed him with a sickening crack, I seriously couldn't believe my eyes. For a moment I couldn't move, I was in pure disbelief. After a moment though, I turned around to get Aura and get the hell out of this place.

"Talk about a crushing defeat…" A woman said as I turned around. In front of me was someone with dark, blood red eyes. They glowed in a way that unsettled me. She had jet black hair and a wide smile on her face that seemed rather fake. She had tanned skin and two fanged teeth that were very prominent. She wore a black a black hoodie that was open to reveal a graphic tee of a red sky with a black circle in it, her pants were almost as black as her hair, her wore sneakers as red as her eyes.

"Noris." I said, speaking her name in pure fear. There weren't many things in Existence that scared me, but she was one of them.

"So much for your promise, hm Zinex?" She said looking at the blood that was now seeping from under the crate.

"That wasn't my fault, the idiot killed himself." I said looking away from her and turning to see Aura, who was looking in my direction but seemed to be staring through me. As if he wasn't seeing me.

"Aren't hero's supposed to save people from death?" She asked sarcastically. She then walked over to the crate. "This man is very dead to me."

"There was nothing I could do Noris, just go away." I growled and walked over to Aura. I bent down and took a good look at him, he didn't seem to have any sort of injuries.

"And what happens when he does something you don't like." I heard Noris say behind me. It was a question that seriously made me stop. I got up and looked at her, she was no longer smiling but had an incredible emotionless look on her face. "What happens when they do something you don't approve of? Will you let them die too?"

"I wouldn-" I started to say but anger began filling her face as she moved slightly away from the crate.

"You wouldn't? You wouldn't?" She asked incredulously, anger building in her voice. I gripped my sword tighter, I was seriously afraid. "What about Dawn? Monica? Did they just magically die!"

"I- I-" I tried to say but words wouldn't come to me. Guilt, along with fear, was consuming me. Pain began building within me, I quickly raised my sword… fearful of what she might do.

"Jeremy! Alana! Chelsa! How many more will die because of you Zinex!" She bellowed shaking me to the very fabric of my being. I stepped back and faltered with my sword, just as I had at the docks. "Will it be Blake next? You've killed all the people who cared for you most!"

"I…" I tried to speak, tears flowing down my face. I couldn't face this… what I had done was terrible.

"They might have been able to leave you, cursing you from behind the scenes, but I won't. You betrayed me when I need you most!" She yelled, piercing my ears. Noris then bolted into me, quicker than my mind could comprehend, and smashed me into the wall. The wall behind me cracked and shook, my insides searing with pain. My face was to the ground, I could see blood dripping down from me. Pain, guilt, hate, fear, and depression all flew within me, consuming me like they had before. I looked up at Noris, she had hate in her eyes and tears of rage. I lifted my hand up, yellow lightning building in my hand. I wanted her to go away, to leave me alone, to just die. "Do it then! Prove who you really are Zinex! Your bloodthirsty! Hateful! Hypocritical! Your nothing more than an evil scum of Existence! Kill me then, like you did!"

"No. Never again. I won't be the monster you think me to be." I said standing up slowly, clarity reaching my broken mind. I was injured, I could feel my bones healing but extremely slowly… I was drained. I picked up Aura, pain hitting my body in an almost unbearable way as I slung him over my shoulder. I began limping down the hallway, no clue of any type of plan of getting across the crevice. I heard footsteps behind me, which made me move faster, pushing my body to its limit.

"Maybe you aren't… but that might not matter soon." I heard Noris's voice say as I reached the trench. I looked around and I knew I couldn't do this alone. My injuries, power depletion, and lack of the strength to make a bridge across the huge gap.

"C'mon buddy, I could really use your help." I said, looking to Aura, who was still lost in thought.

"Dad…" He mumbled, completely incapacitated. I sighed in annoyance but suddenly the bits of rubble began to fly past me. Twisted pieces of metal and rock then floated in the air above the trench creating a small foothold for me to stand. I looked around and didn't see anyone else.

"Really Aura...did it have to be small?" I muttered in slight confusion as I stepped onto the foothold and it began slowly moving. It took about 5 minutes to reach the other side, due to the extremely slow movement from the foothold. I stepped off onto the blackened metallic floor of the other side and the rubble behind me immediately fell. I grimaced as I started walking again, my body beginning to feel numb from the amount of pain pushing through me. "You owe me one for this…"

 **Aura's POV**

Loss. That's all I felt. I was vaguely aware of Zinex talking to me and carrying me along but I wasn't listening at all. I couldn't feel, at least not in the way one normally felt. Pain filled my body and mind, disconnecting me from any sense of reality I had… I was lost. I wanted to move, show emotion, or anything that would help me at all, but nothing. My body wasn't listening to me, my mind was scattered, and my heart in pieces, I was beyond broken. An unknown amount of time passed for me and I thought I heard Zinex arguing with someone, then nothingness.

Next thing I knew, sunlight painfully hit my eyes as we exited the base through the main doorway we had entered through. The outside air felt the same to me as it did inside as the same scene repeated in my mind over and over again. Why did this have to happen to me… why...

"There they are!" I heard Yato cry from somewhere, I couldn't tell because my eyes were locked into the ground. For the next few seconds everything was nothing but muffled voices, nothing that they said mattered to me anyways, the world didn't matter. The chance to find out why my family was separated like this, once again, gone again…

"A...a, Au…, A...r…" I heard a voice call out, but was still muffled to the point of non-recognition. Then I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulders, and shake me back and forth firmly. That's when the voice started to become clearer. "Aur… ura… AURA!"

My vision finally cleared and I got a good look at who was shanking me. It was Rain, various burns and tears in her clothes, and eyes full of tears, as if she were about to cry; but that wasn't the only thing I saw in her eyes. In them I saw a reflection of myself, someone who lost those they cared about and just had their hopes and dreams to themselves going. Someone like me.

"Aura, what happened? What's wrong?!" Rain asked worryingly, sounding like she was about to breakout crying. Her simple question finally broke down the wall of tears that my own body had been holding back. Without a second thought I buried my face into her shoulder, and cried loudly, letting out the sadness that I had harbored in my heart for all this time. I felt her hesitate at first, but she eventually wrapped her arms around me and started slowly rub my back, trying to make me feel better. I wrapped my arms tighter around her as I started to calm down. Her hands were holding my head and rubbing my fox ears, and I was clutching onto her for dear life, as if she was going to disappear the second I let go. Everyone close to me left, and I couldn't imagine the people here leaving or being killed, it would kill me...

Later on my crying started to reduce to light sobs and sniffles as I started to calm down. The more time I spent in her arms, the more relaxed I started to feel, as if I were being held by my mother, I felt loved. It wasn't long before I eventually slipped into darkness fell asleep, with a warm feeling embedded deep in my chest.

 **Zinex POV**

For a moment, everyone watched in silence as Aura cried, however Rain led him slightly away from the group and began to calm him down. Since Aura was incapacitated and hopefully hadn't seen what happened I took up the task of explaining what had happened. They all got a shocked expression on their faces throughout the entire story, hell even though I had left out the part about Noris… it still sounded insane. Rain seemed the most affected by what happened, developing a sort of serious face.

"The White Fang… They did this to my family too. Especially that man you described. I am glad he's dead." She said, revenge filling her voice.

"Can't believe it…" Cypher said in a tone of pure bewilderment as I saw him look to us. I could tell he was tired, his body had tons of cuts from the rubble of the explosion. By my math, he had been nearly at the epicenter… that was probably the only reason the others hadn't died.

"Stupid White Fang." Yato said in a rather angry tone of voice. He was obviously both physically and emotionally hurt. He too had scraps all over him, along with burn marks on his now exposed right calf.

"Don't worry we will heal." Train said, appearing to try and muster up courage. He looked the worst out of all, he had huge gashes in his body covered with large amount of bandages. He looked like he was in serious pain. "They won't get away with this. We will stop them."

"We will try." I said pessimistically as I looked down at the ring I worse. I began to play with it absentmindedly as I thought. They knew where we were, they knew where we were going, they were tracking us. No matter how hard we tried to hide, it seemed they were always a step ahead. I pulled out my scroll and looked at it, was this why?

"Aura? Aura!?" I heard Rain cry out as she caught Aura before he fell. Everyone quickly shot their heads to Aura, and due to his limp state I assumed they thought he was dead. I could see the outline of his nerve cells producing an electrical signal quite strongly and knew better.

"He's asleep, not dead." I said walked over to Rain then lugged Aura over my shoulder once again. I knew we had to keep moving, all this despair and death in one place was probably great for attracting grimm. "Come on, let's head back."

"Where?" Rain asked worryingly, standing up as she tightened her grip on her trident. She seemed terrified, probably of what was going to come next.

"Back to Vale." I said simply and Train nodded as well, standing up with a grimace then looking to all of us

"We've done what we came here to do, my associates will come here to clean up this place and demolish it, we've got nothing else to do here. We should leave while we can." Train said. "You all have done an amazing job, I will make sure Ozpin hears of your bravery."

"But what abou-" Rain began, only to get interupted.

"And you should come along with us" Cypher said suddenly. I was rather surprised by his sudden reaction to her, he normally wasn't one to show this much emotion. "You can't stay here in this place. I can't imagine the Grimm getting you. What do you say, Rain? Vale would be a nice place for you."

"Wow… I…" Rain started to speak, I could tell was shocked at Cypher's proposal. In a lot of ways Rain reminded me of myself, back so long ago. Lost, alone, in need of friendship or any form of communication. I could see the fear in her eyes, she wasn't sure what to do.

"Look Rain. Don't question it. Just take the chance and come with us, trust me I know how scary it is but…" I said as looked her in the eyes, her ocean blue eyes intriguing me. "You can't hang on to the past, it will be to your demise… trust me."

"Okay, I'll go" She said after about a minute of thinking. Her face then broke out into a smile.

"Call Jack, Zinex so we can all go home!" Yato exclaimed, obviously tired as all can be. I could see the bags under his eyes. I pulled out my scroll and dialed Jack but it just kept on ringing, he never picked up.

"There's nothing on the other end guys." I told them and they all seemed surprised. Train however quickly pulled out his scroll and I heard ringing noises coming from his scroll as well but there was no pick up either.

"Ozpin isn't answering. I need you guys to get to Vale, quickly. Follow me." Train said walking away from us quickly. We began following him quickly, me being slowed down by Aura's weight. I could still hear him fast asleep, man he was a heavy sleeper.

"Where are we going?" Cypher asked his brother catching up to him.

"The edge of the city, I have a transport stashed there just in case this mission went bad." He said simply as we walked down the street. As I glanced around, I noticed this path seemed familiar… It had been the same path I had walked when I had just gotten to this world. We walked in further silence, for a good long time until we reached the edge of the city where the path was that lead to the outskirts of Vale. Train walked over to a large set of bushes and disappeared in them, a few moments later a car starting noise sounding. Driving out from the bushes was a large military troop truck that looked like pictures I had seen in history class about Atlus. It was mainly white with a black accent color but it was covered in dirt and leaves.

"Wow what a piece of garbage." I said with an exasperated laugh but no one else laughed, the mood was definitely not good. Train parked next to us then got out.

"Who can drive?" He asked quickly, a new intensity in his eyes. No one in our group responded except I.

"Yeah I can." I said raising my only open hand and he tossed me the keys.

"Ozpin told me you know how to get back, I trust you can do that." He said. I nodded but Cypher immediately burst out.

"What do you mean, aren't you coming?" Cypher asked, raising his tone of voice. Train looked at him with an extremely seriously look, I could tell he really wanted to come with us.

"No Cy, I'm not. Our missions break from here. It's important to get back to Vale and figure out what's going on. I have other things I need to do before I leave this area." He said and I saw Cypher about to complain but Train held his hand up. "This is an order from me Cypher, if you don't do it I'll have to get you kicked out of Beacon. Listen to your superiors and leave."

"Fine." Cypher huffed then got in the transport van and went all the way in the back. The other followed suit, all not really into this anymore. I set the sleeping form of Aura on one of the frontmost seats then closed the sliding door. I turned to Train and he had a grim look on his face.

"Thanks Train, I appreciate you being here. Good luck." I said and he nodded.

"Look that was all you Zinex, I spent most of the time under a car. Without you and Aura, we wouldn't have found the base." Trained said the patted my shoulder. "Get them there safely and tell Ozpin to contact me. There's a lot I have to do."

"Got it." I said then walked around the van and got in, I slipped the keys into the slot then started the old van. The engine booted up then I took off, punching the accelerator. "Ah, I love cars."

 **Location: White Fang Camp Near Vale**

 **Time skip: Later that Night**

"They what!?" Lady Iris roared in anger as she crushed her glass full of champagne. The place she was in was much different than the places she had been. After what happened during her ambush on Team AYZC, she had needed to recover from her wounds, but she insisted on still working...she was bent on demolishing the team that had played her like a fool. She was sitting in the briefing room, her knee and various parts of her body bandaged, getting a briefing on what happened at Mount Glenn.

"Ye- Yes mam…" A White Fang lieutenant that kneeled in front of her said. They were extremely fearful for their lives as Lady Iris had a reputation for being brutal. "Train Ignus along with the Team AYZC. Not only that, Ken was killed in the process. Fires spread throughout the base… we salvaged what we could b-

"Damn it!" Lady Iris roared at White Fang lieutenant throwing a candle holder straight through his head, killing him instantly. The other White Fang member shook in fear, terrified the same fate might befall him but Lady Iris glared into a book she had been reading. She had experienced nothing but failure and annoyances the past few months, whether it be Gerald failing her constantly, the base being destroyed, or her own failure at killing Team AYZC, resulting in her knee injury. She tried to stand up from the chair she was standing in, only to have a sharp pain run through her left knee, causing her to sit back down. She banged her hands on the table in front of her, and roared loudly in anger as she mentally cursed at herself. "Idiots! I'm surrounded by nothing but idiots! Why must everyone be so incompetent!?"

"And why must you be so loud?" A familiar voice said calmly. She looked at the entrance to the room to see Adam Taurus, who did not look happy either. "So I take it that things aren't to your liking right now…"

"You better have some good news for me bull. I need something good." She said to Adam but his grim look told her otherwise.

"Team students of Beacon have been giving me a lot of annoyances. Breach was a failure, Team RWBY ruined the plan. I'm losing faith in Roman Torchwick." Adam said with a low growl. He too hated the fact that he had to work with a human, much less one like Roman who co distantly annoyed him at every turn. "I would hope our leader would recognize his incompetence and sever ties with him."

"You know as well as I that we cannot stop working with him, Salem wouldn't allow us to betray her like that." Lady Iris said looking back to her book. "We are in luck that she is forgiving, not to mention our other plan is going exactly as it should. Gerald may be out running his use but my other informant will not fail. His information has been spot on, Ken was weaker than I expected."

"His semblance was powerful, he wasn't much of anything." Adam said taking a seat. "What is next?"

"The fall of Beacon Adam, it is closely approaching." Lady Iris said with an evil grin appearing on her face. "With Cinder in her place, and her mission, combined with what I have done. We will secure Beacon. This plan will not fail, I have made sure of it."

"Have you secured Mrs. Sharp?" Adam asked in a serious tone as he flipped through some papers. Lady Iris grinned broadly, as if she found this funny.

"I am not 100 percent sure but I have heard rumors that she may be in Atlus, funny isn't it that she looks for her family there but they had already left?" Lady Iris said chuckling at herself. "But it is alright, the Sharp family being in Vale is something that is necessary to our plan."

"Speaking of which, the coils. Are they installed?" Adam asked quickly, Iris's grin grew even wider.

"Soon they will be, with the tournament coming soon many repairs will be rushed for Beacon, it will be easy to install in that section." Lady Iris stated. "You better be working on your sword skill Adam, my informant tells me Zinex is very skilled."

"Is he now?" Adam asked with a sense of bewilderment. Looking down at his own blade, he chuckled at the thought of someone besting him. "He will be nothing more than another stain on my blade Iris."


	21. Chapter 21: Times are Changing

**Location: Vale Cafe**

 **One week later:**

 **3rd Person**

"One orange parfait please…" Cypher said to a waiter taking the entire tables order, him being the very last person to order, as he couldn't really make up his mind.

"And will that be all?" The waiter asked with a smile as he finished writing down Cypher's drink order. Cypher didn't say anything, but just nodded and looked back to his friends around the table. "Alright, it'll be ready soon."

A week had passed since the event at Mount Glenn, and being that AYZC, Rain, and even Celestia needed a mood pickup, they had all decided to head to a cafe in Vale to do just that. Over the past few days everyone had been struggling to keep it together and it showed widely.

Zinex had been acting more distant and secretive than usual ever since his fight with Ken. He seemed to be a lot more worried about a feeling that had begun creeping into his body. One of darkness and loss and basic emptiness that he hated feeling. He felt like everything around him was staying still but he was moving. He wasn't sure if it was what had happened in Mount Glenn or something else, but he knew something was wrong.

Yato had gotten noticeably more and more aggravated and it had slowly started to affect his health, school life, and his relationship with Yang. He slept and ate less than he usually would, his grades slowly started to deteriorate, he got into unnecessary fights more often, and he and Yang had slowly started to spend less and less time with each other. When anyone tried to either tried to help or talk to him about his state of being, he would either yell at them or just storm off angrily. It was a frightening sight to be seen, so most people decided to ignore it.

Cypher had gotten quieter yet noticeably distressed starting on the third day after he had returned. He felt terrified, thinking he couldn't be able to protect all that he cared about, as if he was a failure or a nuisance to everyone. Everyone, including Weiss tried to help, but all that did was make him feel even worse. He had tried his whole life to protect those around him, but it seemed he was just failing every time he tried.

And then there was their leader, Aura, who was by far the most broken out of the whole team. After witnessing his father getting murdered in front of him and finding out his mother was somewhere else still alive, his mental state had just crashed. Did his mother not want to see him? Did she even care that he existed? All these questions buried his mental state alive and kept him in a constant state of barely being able to breathe. His eyes were dulled grey and lifeless; his head, tails, and ears constantly hung low and dirty, as he had not properly cleaned them since. He barely ate anymore, and when he did, it was to keep everyone from force-feeding him. He was unresponsive since then too, barely showing any signs of emotion wherever he went, only making slight gestures to display awareness, barely even participating in combat class as well.

He had barely even physically moved either, he would only use his semblance to do his various day to day tasks, whether it be bathing, putting on his clothes and uniform, eating, or even writing. It was disheartening for his friends to see him in a state like this. As much as they tried to help him, there was very little they were able to do for him even when they came back Celestia was distraught to see Zinex, Cypher, Aura, and Yato in such broken states of being.

Rain was affected by this entire thing as well, even if she hadn't been directly involved. She was clearly more worried than anyone else, mainly about the wellbeing of the people she had just met a week ago, given her caring and sympathetic attitude. Out of everyone however, it was Aura she was most worried about, she too had experience with the brutal world that lay outside Vale. She could imagine the amount of pain that the fox was going through and wished she could make it disappear, but alas it was impossible.

The silence around the table kept that way for an inordinate amount of time, that is until the waiter came with their drink orders, and the food order only Zinex had ordered. The smell of ribs filled the whole table, but not a word was spoken, that is until it was forced.

"Could someone please pass the hot sauce." Zinex said awkwardly, scared to break the silence but really could barely taste the ribs.

"Yeah." Yato grunted and tossed him the hot sauce, without any emotion. Zinex caught it and sighed, looking around at everyone, who were keeping to themselves.

"Look guys, I get it, everyone is depressed as hell and the mood is down. We have to move on though, fight past the sad shit, and keep going. That's what will show our true strength, not explosion, lightning, psychic shit, or even fire." Zinex said aloud then took a bite out of the ribs that sat in front of him, then looked back at everyone.

"Zinex is right, we can't keep wallowing." Rain said looking at Aura, then to everyone else. "I don't want this to be it for us."

"Kinda hard when life keeps spitting in our faces." Yato grunted, leaning back in his chair.

"Not life, the White Fang keeps hitting us in the face." Cypher pointed out then took a drink of his parfait. Everyone nodded their heads, that point couldn't be argued.

"Exactly, it's not like anyone else is responsible besides them." Zinex stated then looked around at the group, taking yet another bite of the ribs, which he seemed to be enjoying quite viciously almost as if it were his last meal.

"Then what do you propose we do? You seem like you have all the answers huh?" Yato shot back to him, obviously still annoyed and irritated by life itself. Zinex sat back for a second, licking his fingers, then looked around.

"I'm honestly not sure, I'm really not sure of a lot right now." He said, his eyes seemingly lost. He was looking out to the port which didn't lie very far away.

"That's what I thought." Yato said in a huff, but this time Aura decided he had enough. He stood up and looked at the rest of his friends, and even though sadness engulfed his entire state of being, he had a plan.

"We will be participating in the tournament." Aura said in a matter of fact tone. "That is AYZC will be, I'm not sure Rain and Celestia qualify."

"I think that's a good idea." Cypher said finishing his drink rather quickly, standing up as well.

"Isn't the fair today?" Zinex asked, looking around at everyone. For a moment Aura paused, then immediately bolted down the path that would lead to Vale, the rest of the people following him except Zinex, who was still sitting at the table. Cypher turned around and looked at him with a urgent look on his face.

"Aren't you coming? We have to get their quickly!" Cypher said in an equally urgent tone, but Zinex just continued sitting back, and staring out into the water.

"I'll be there, just gimme some time." He said not meeting Cypher's eyes, Cypher nodded and ran after the rest of the group, disappearing from the area. Zinex then coughed heavily into his trench coat sleeve.

Zinex POV

"You don't sound well." A voice said across from me. I immediately looked up at whoever it was and sighed, it was Noris in front of me. She was wearing normal summer clothes, with her long hair let completely out. She appeared so real in front of me but I couldn't tell if I was just going crazy or not.

"Eh its nothing." I said waving her off, then laying down money on the table to pay for all of us.

"If you say so Zinex. I'm going to guess you let them go ahead just because you like the scenery." She asked and I glared at her, which just made her laugh.

"What are you doing here Noris?" I asked quickly, not really wanting her to be here.

"Zinex you silly fool, I'm always here." She leaned back, looking around at the small cafe we were sitting in front of.

"Then how about you go back to being a ghost." I said, standing up and feeling a pain in my chest. I grunted, then fully stood up, luckily the pain subsided a bit.

"As you wish." She said as I turned away from her, walking down the street. I coughed a bit more into my forearm and kept going down the street but everything seemed to be getting fuzzy and weird.

"What the hell is this?" I grunted, as everything got almost fully fuzzy, except what was all around me. I stumbled forward, the pain returning to my body but this time fully extending to every piece of it. I groaned in pain and stumbled forward, falling on the ground.

"Are you okay sir?" I heard a faint voice ask, but I couldn't find the energy to respond, I felt completely drained and weak. I faded for a second then felt myself being pulled somewhere. I heard whoever was pulling me was speaking but I just couldn't understand them, then I completely blacked out.

Aura's POV

"Where is Zinex?" I asked the rest of my team, and they all shook their shoulders. Cypher had said he was going to stay back a second but it had been an entire two hours of waiting for him. We had already signed up to the tournament, and I really wanted to talk battle strategy before it began tomorrow, but Zinex couldn't bother to show up on time.

"Calm down, furry brain." Cypher said giving me a smack on the back, then laughing as he looked around the festival, which was in the works and not yet completely done. "He'll be here any moment."

"Yeah try to enjoy yourself Aura." Rain smiled at me, raising my mood a lot. She always seemed to improve my mood, even in the worst of times. Without another word my scroll began ringing, and it was from Zinex. Finally. I picked up the the scroll and answered it immediately. "Where the heck are you?"

"Um, at the city." I heard him say, though he sounded sort of different but I couldn't place why. He almost sounded like he was hurt, or something along those lines.

"Alright meet us at the festival, it's right inside Beacon so you should be able to find it." I told him urgently, I really needed him here. There wasn't going to be a way to win if we didn't have everybody at the ready for this.

"Where's that again?" He asked in a confused tone.

"Zinex seriously, Beacon? The school? You know the one we go too?" I asked exasperatedly, facepalming a little. Sometimes his sarcasm got on my nerves. "Just call us when you get here, we'll meet you by the front doors."

With that I hung up, I really didn't want to hear another sarcastic comment.

"Where is Zinex?" Rain asked curiously, hearing the entire conversation I had with him.

"He's still in Vale for some reason. Cypher I thought he said he was only going to be a minute." I said a bit irritated but Cypher just shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know Aura, I'm just telling you what he said." I just sighed and pocketed my scroll, he better get here soon, or so help me…

"You seem… better…" Celestia said cautiously yet roughly enough to shake me out from my irritated state.

"I need this to go well for once." I sighed kicking a stone on the ground, not really caring much about anything but what we were preparing for. This tournament had to go right...it just had too.

"Calm down, fur-bait…" Cypher said smacking the back of my head. "Zinex is stressed and nervous, just as much as we are. But the best thing we can do at the moment is just train for the tournament."

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. After what we had experienced last week...it would make sense that he would be as stressed as us. Maybe I should lighten up a bit…

"Hello there!" I heard a familiar deep toned voice say from behind our group. I turned around and was greeted by the figure of Zinex but...different. He looked a bit pale, and seemed a bit nervous but otherwise fine.

"Well I didn't realize your princess ass needed a whole hour to finish your food." Yato laughed, walking to him then patting him on the shoulder.

"Hilarious." Zinex laughed looking at all of us, and I noticed a slightly pained look in his expression, but was quickly replaced with a smile that looked sort of forced.

"You're late." I said crossing my arms and tapping my foot irritatingly. He shook his head then let out a small laugh.

"Sorry Mom, I'll be sure to be on time next time. Please don't ground me." He mocked, which just made me sigh in irritation. Typical Zinex, always has to make a sarcastic comment.

"Alright Zinex, let's just get to the fields, we have some practice we need to get in before the Vytal festival begins officially. So come on, let's g-" I started to say, but was cut off.

"Hey guys!" I heard a familiar, high pitched voice yell from behind the group. I looked behind everyone to see team RWBY there. "Surprising seeing you all here"

"Hey guys, how are yo-" I began before a white and red blur dashed towards the group, making me jump from where I was standing and move next to Zinex. A second later I was greeted by the sight of Yato passionately kissing Yang on the lips; and although she was surprised at first, she soon melted into it. Nonetheless, this suddenness surprised most of us, minus Blake of course, but Zinex let out a semi loud cough into his elbow. "Uh…You okay over there?"

"Oh yeah totally fine buddy." Zinex said, patting me on the back then looking back to Yato and Yang. After a few seconds, Yato pulled away and faced me with a wide grin on his face.

(this is so Weiss, can we hit 5 dabs)(XD)"So anyway…" Weiss began, recovering from the surprising kiss. She then continued with what she was going to say, after recovering. "How come you're here? I thought you all wer-"

She almost would have finished that statement, if it were not for Cypher walking up to her and kissing passionately, almost as Yato did no less than ten seconds ago.

"Um…" I heard Rain say in awe as she watched this unfold. Heck, even I would have, but this was almost natural for them. Noting Blake by herself, I realized that Zinex hadn't kissed her yet. I looked towards Zinex, as he just stood there and watched.

"Um… Zinex…?" I asked glancing to Blake and then to him. I knew he had feelings for her, that was obvious, but I wondered if he was going to make those known.

"Huh?" He asked, obviously as confused as someone could be and I just sighed and shrugged my shoulders. I guess today wasn't going to be the day.

"Nevermind… So anyway…" I said trying to get everyone back on topic, it felt nice to have all of us just here. Like the dark times were moving behind us, like things were going to only get better from here. "What are you all up to?"

"Oh nothing, just trying to find something to do to pass the time before the tournament." Ruby admitted almost sounding bored. I mean it was about two weeks away from the tournament, and all the various attractions around the fair were just being set up, so there really wasn't anything to do, and the thought of helping build all of this stuff didn't really scream fun to me. "So what about you guys?"

"We were actually going to train for the tournament… As a matter of fact…" I began as I looked around our two teams. "What do you say to a sparring match? Team RWBY vs Team AYZC. We can find out who's really best."

"Hmm." Ruby tapped her chin, and looked up. Then looked at me with a determined gaze. "Bring! It! On!"


	22. Chapter 22: Fight or Flight

**3rd Person PoV**

 **Location: Forever Fall**

"Are we there yet…?" Ruby whined in exaggeration as Team RWBY, Team AYZC, Celestia, and Rain trudged through the Forever Fall forest. They were all following Aura, whose plan was to look for a suitable area for their sparring match, and as it turned out, he knew just the place to go to.

"Just a bit further, Rose" Aura said in a in a excited yet calm tone of voice as he lead everyone to the location in question. "Um… Cypher? Which way was it now?"

"It up this hill" Cypher said as he pointed towards a sloping cliff. Everyone knew where they were going, and most of them didn't like it one bit. They slowly ascended the cliff face, to many of their annoyances, to the place in which they would fight.

"How much farther is it?" Weiss asked in understandable annoyance as they. "We've been walking fo-"

"We've arrived." Aura said looking to the opening in the mountain ahead of them. After walking inward a few paces they came across a wide open clearing, red leaves littered the ground, trees stood tall up on the cliff faces above, and a circular stone platform in the middle of it all. While Team RWBY and Celestia were amazed to see such a secluded place, untouched by both Grimm and people alike, Team AYZC had already seen this place already during one of their recent search missions for Aura's mother.

"Wow!" Ruby said in shock and awe as she zipped around the area excitedly, looking at all the sights, while Yang, Blake, and Celestia look at the scene in awe.

"When… when did…" Yang began in an attempt to break the silence, only to be stuck on her own words, which wasn't really like her.

"When did you find this!?" Celestia finally yelled out for Yang, startling everyone, except for Zinex of course, who looked pretty bored.

"Well… we found it when…" Yato said trying to come up with an excuse of how the team found it. He could come out with the truth of how, but that might cause problems for the team. Yato, not being very good with lying, was having issues doing that. "We… we f-found it when…"

"We were exploring Forever Fall, we had managed to come across this place in the process" Aura had said, managing to come up with a excuse for how they had came across the location. "Trust me, we were surprised too when we had discovered it."

"Yeah, we even spent that night here that day too" Cypher had said while rubbing the back of his head, chuckling in nervousness.

"But why did you-" Blake began to say before a bolt of lightning struck the ground between the two groups, startling everyone around. They all looked to where the bolt had struck, only to see a patch of burned leaves, and a small fire there. Knowing there was only one person who could have done that, everyone had turned towards Zinex, who was quietly using his scroll, and didn't look up at any of them.

"Campfire" Zinex said, still not looking up. Luckily that distraction gave Aura the time he needed to break away from that conversation.

"Anyway… here we are!" Aura said putting on a happy tone to make sure no one continued with the conversation. Then he began to walk towards the stone platform in the middle of the clearing.

"But why are we here?" Blake asked the young kitsune faunus in her usual calm, monotone voice. This had caused Ruby to stop zipping around and stand next to Aura; both of them had looked back at their friends with mischievous grins on their faces. With their friends giving all sorts of confused, questionable, and even bored looks at them.

"Team AYZC…" Aura said slowly looking towards Ruby.

"Or Team RWBY…" Ruby had said while slowly looking towards Aura

"Which is better?!" Both yelled out together in a confident, challenging, boisterous tone of voice. Everyone, except for Zinex, had just looked at them with blank, unamused expressions on their faces.

"I hate this channel." Zinex muttered, looking back to his scroll

"What… the heck… you two…?" Cypher had said in an annoyed tone of voice, with his anger showing only slightly.

"What?" Aura and Ruby had said, confused at Cypher's question.

"You're telling me… that we were dragged out here… for a stupid contest?!" Weiss cried out in frustration, slightly scaring the two team leaders. "Just give me one good reason why we all shouldn't just turn and leave…"

"Um… because… Oh!" Aura pondered before he got an idea. "Because I know each of you, minus Ruby, Rain, Celeste, and I, want to see if you're stronger than your partner. And yes, Zinex. I know you and Blake got together."

"Excuse me what the fuck?" Zinex asked, as everyone turned to look at Zinex, who wasn't really showing much emotion. Blake however, was blushing fiercely "That was about as random as could be, we obviously-"

"H- how did you find out…?" She asked, obviously embarrassed. Everyone just looked back at Aura, who just burst out in laughter in the following seconds.

"Really Blake?" Zinex asked turning to her, obviously peeved, which made Aura laugh even louder.

"I didn't! That's the funny thing!" He said between laughter. After a good minute, his laughter eventually died down and he relaxed. "I had a feeling that you two had a thing for each other, so I just took a shot in the dark. And it turns out I was right."

"Oh yeah well Aura-" Zinex started to say but then he got hit with a large book, and fell to the ground.

"No you don't." Aura muttered, then took out his weapon. "So are we doing this or not?"

Everyone just looked at each other calmly, as Zinex got up cursing and groaning, and pulled out their weapons.

"Is friendly fire allowed?" Zinex asked, glaring at Aura, who just gave him a pained smile.

"Let's just get it ready Zinex." Celestia sighed then proceeded to make a small barrier from which Celestia and Rain could watch the match without being seriously injured. After a few minutes, Celestia had positioned her barrier around the middle of the cliff, in order to get the best viewing angle. Then both Team AYZC and Team RWBY went to opposite ends of the field and then looked at each other, after drawing their weapons.

"Team AYZC, are you ready?" Rain cried out from behind a stone barricade.

"Ready!" Team AYZC all cried in unison, seemingly hype for the battle that was going to occur.

"Team RWBY, are you ready?" Celestia called out to the opposing team a great distance away from Team AYZC.

"Ready!" They responded back, just as anxious to fight. With that, the stage was set and both teams prepared themselves for a tough fight. Both sides know that the other shouldn't be taken lightly, so there was no holding back, except for Zinex of course.

"Okay you guys. Remember, it all depends on your skill… Fight!" Celestia cried out to initiate the battle.

Aura POV

"Alright let's do this!" I yelled, raising my large sword then running forward. Team RWBY did a similar thing and ran at us and I knew who my fight was going to be with, it would be the team leader herself, Ruby Rose. We got up close and then the fight ensued, and it was a whirlwind. With a speed I hadn't anticipated, Ruby knocked me back hard, flipping me into the ground. Luckily, I had my tails and was able to spin them in order to avoid slamming into the ground too hard. I rightened myself, then put my sword in front of me to block Ruby's scythe strike, which almost cut me.

"Hiya!" She yelled then tried to slice me again, but I slid my sword up into the top of her scythe, hooking it then trying to push it out of her hands. As good of a plan that was, I wasn't fast enough. She pulled her scythe out of my block then tried to slice again, to which I jumped back so I wouldn't get cut. "Catch up fox!"

"Oh no you don't" I said as she tried to rush me, but I slid out of the way then slash at her scythe, knocking it up a bit, but before I could do anything more, she fluttered away quickly. I sighed then tried to jump forward after her, but I just wasn't fast enough to catch her in time, and allowed her to recover before attacking again, testing my ability to defend. Our weapons collided, causing a loud clanging noise, before we began and push off. We both grimaced at each other, trying to come out on top but it seemed we were fairly evenly match, that is before my semblance. I reached out with my semblance and pushed my sword further, pushing her back until I broke her defense and delivered and hit to her hand with my hilt, causing her to whine in pain.

"Ow!" She whined then gripped her scythe again, a determined look entering her eyes.

"You'll pay for that!" She yelled in her high pitched voice.

"Uh oh." I muttered before raising my sword, afraid of what was to come. She jumped back then fired a white dust shot at me, which landed and nearly broke my aura, I stumbled back but raised my sword again, ready for it this time. Just as I suspected, she shot another bullet at me, but I dodged out of the way, then disconnected one side of my sword then threw it at her, knocking her scythe out of her hand, then rushing forward. She slipped quickly back then grabbed her scythe, nullifying what I had just done.

"Ha!" She laughed then slid forward extremely fast and slammed her scythe into my sword causing my hands to vibrate, and drop my sword. So I jumped back trying to avoid any further attacks then flun my hand out and called both of my sword back to my hand and stood ready for another round.

"Yato how you doing?" I yelled across the battlefield.

Yato POV

"Good!" I yelled blocking one of Yangs fists from slamming me in the head. I immediately swung a right hook at Yang but she easily countered with her own right hook that collided with mine, which caused a loud boom to echo over the battlefield. I tried to do a fake out of sweeping her legs and into kicking into her side and to my surprise I succeeded, Yang was getting soft.

"Ugh." She grunted as she slid across the ground, but still looked like she wasn't too hurt and was in fact smirking. I pushed myself up back to my feet and got back into my fighting stance and charged at her. She then pushed herself forward as well, looking to meet the distance between us. We clashed with yet another explosive sound and I grinned in her face. "What's wrong, getting tired babe?"

"What? You think I can't take a punch? That's sweet." She said as she punched me in the gut, causing me to slide back, and getting some distance between us so she could launch some shots. I didn't think twice and quickly closed the distance between us. In a ranged battle she had the definite advantage, and I couldn't let that be the case. I clenched my fist and went for a concussive blast punch to her chest and face, I went for a swift kick to the head but she knocked my foot out of the way and then wound up for a punch. I quickly used my other leg to hop up and rotate myself for a kick to her head in the other direction. I used the rest of my momentum to land and do another spin and deliver yet another blow to her side, flinging her into a tree.

"You ok there?" I questioned Yang as she slowly got up, looking quite tired and almost bruised in the areas I punched her. When she got up, she looked like she was about to say something until she saw some strings of her hair fall out. "Shit."

"I'm going to!" She yelled with a ferocity I had come to expect from her. She came at me with a series of jabs, right hooks, and left hooks, and thought I tried my best to counter them all but some got past me and hit me in the torso. I went for an actual leg sweep, trying to break her line of attacks, but she jumped over it and I repositioned the failed leg sweep to a handstand drop kick.

"Sure in bed it's fine if I get to grab your hair but in a sparring match you try to kill me? How is that fair!" I exclaimed jokingly, then got back up. She didn't even smile a bit, but still had that determined and angry look on her face. She used her gauntlets to push herself forward at me, going for an over-head punch. I swiftly punched up launching a concussive blast to her left cheek, which knocked her up and then to the ground. She groaned and sighed, tapping the ground and indicating she had enough.

"Sorry babe, had to do it to ya." I said calmly and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, then I was suddenly slammed into the ground by someone.

Cypher POV

"Sorry." I grunted as I got back up and helped Yato up.

"Watch where you're going." Yato frowned at me, sitting down on the sidelines. I turned back towards Weiss, who was showing absolutely no mercy towards me. Weiss aimed her sword at me and a flurry of ice shards flew towards me, I holstered my pistol/boomerangs, then put my hands up and formed fire in front of me with a grunt. The shards hit the small area of fire and created an intense amount of steam. I quickly upholstered one of my boomerangs, leaned to the side a bit, then fired off a bunch of shots at where I thought Weiss was. When the steam cleared, she was nowhere to be found.

"Huh?!" I questioned loudly, but I was quickly answered.

"Behind you." A high pitched voice said behind me, and before I could turn I was already getting sliced on my back. My aura managed to take most of the damage, but my jacket wasn't as lucky. I jumped forward, trying to avoid getting more slashed up as I liked this leather jacket. I spun around and threw my boomerang at Weiss but she knocked it right out of the air then shot another round of ice at me. I shot a fireball through the dust, trying to hit Weiss, but judging from the lack of sound, I hadn't met my target. I jumped back, looking around myself to see if she had gotten behind me somehow, but I didn't see anything.

"Where are you!" I called out and immediately got hit with a loud pop of fire dust, which did little more than get my attention. I spun around and realized my mistake. She had her sword to my throat, and was pressing the metal into my skin, drawing a bit of blood. "Not bad princess."

"I'm not a princess!" She said in an irritated tone, her sword shaking, which gave me a few milliseconds. I flung my boomerang to the side of her sword and knocked it away from my throat then tried to deliver a punch to her torso, which failed miserably. She backed up quickly, then shot forward just as quickly with one of her symbols appearing behind her then slammed me in the chest so hard I saw stars and had the air knocked out of my lungs.

"Ahhhh." I groaned, as my aura completely depleted, and my body tried to recover from that large strike. I felt a cold force on my neck again and looked up to see Weiss's sword on my neck once again. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"Of course." I muttered and I heard her laugh in a superior way.

"That settles it, ice is better than fire." She laughed again.

"Fire for life." I opened my eyes then looked over at Zinex who seemed to be having one of the fastest fights I had ever seen in my life.

Zinex POV

Left. Right. Left. Right. Up. Down. No this wasn't a cheat code but it was the only damn way I was going to win this battle. Blake was a lot faster than I had anticipated her going, and even with electricity coursing through my body, it was still rough. I countered one of her blades then dodged the other one, hitting the ground then sweeping her legs, she jumped over the sweep the slashed down, trying to get me, but I kept my momentum and pulled myself up. She slashed again with both her blades this time, and I was able to block then hit her in the stomach. She fell back a bit but then laughed herself at me again.

"You recover fast." I pointed out as I blocked two of her strikes then kicked at her legs, but she was able to dodge out of the way.

"You guard fast." She shot back then once again tried a double bladed attack, only to meet my sword with a loud clang.

"You don't guard fast enough." I said, sliding to the left then slamming my hilt into her hand, causing her to drop one of her swords, but she quickly formed a shadow clone that exploded, sending me flying back. I slammed into the ground with a grunt, but quickly vaulted myself up and rose my sword to defend an incoming attack, which Blake was predictable for, and just as I expected, two blades slammed into my sword creating a shockwave that blasted out from us. My sword vibrated heavily, but luckily the material took most of the force and didn't damage my hands. I fell back, letting her force get the best of me, then sprung up and sliced towards her, knocking both blades out of her hands then slicing once more, only to have my blade get trapped in an ice clone.

"YAH!" She yelled vaulting towards me with both her blades in hand again. I let go of my swords hilt then focused my power into my hand, creating a sword made of pure lightning that crackled and popped loudly. I pulled my guard up and once again guarded her attack. A loud booming sound came from the meeting of the sword and I quickly rolled to the right, making the sword disappear, then shot a lightning bolt at the ice clone and caused it to explode. I dodged one of Blake's strikes then rolled and grabbed my sword off the ground, and brought it to my side, just barely blocking one of her sword strikes then pushing her off, and rolling to the side. I held my guard up again, ready for another strike and boy did it come. She slammed her blades down as hard as possible, creating a small explosions, then jumped up and left one of her fire red shadow clones, which promptly exploded in front of me. I was launched back into a tree and groaned loudly. That's when everything went wrong.

My chest exploded in pain and I started coughing, which thus hurt my throat. I kept coughing and then a tingling sensation went through my whole body, followed by immense levels of pain coming from my body. I kept coughing, and couldn't stop, to the point where my lungs began to hurt. Red began filling my vision, and the last thing I saw was Blake's form coming right at me, extremely fast. I raised my hands to defend but my weak guard was immediately broken by her sheer force, knocking me into the tree again. I didn't even feeling anything but the force of the tree and the severe pain in my lungs. I coughed loudly again, pain filling my eyes.

"Zinex? Zinex?" I heard a voice echo through my senses. The voice got more and more distant as blackness enveloped my entire sense of self.

"W-what is this?" I mumbled weakly as the world around me faded from black to red tinge over and over, causing me a headache like I had never seen before. I coughed more and the pain in my lungs returned.

"Zinex!" I heard a voice yell louder, then my ears went completely deaf. It was almost like I was trapped in nothingness and fear engulfed my entire body. Suddenly the world faded back into my view, and my ears began ringing. I was breathing extremely heavily with a weird raspy feel, and my face was to the ground. My eyes immediately focused on the blood that seemed to be coming from my coughing, this wasn't good at all.

"Zinex?" I heard Aura's voice ask, and I felt an arm on my back. The pain slowly subsided, and I waved his arm off me then pushed myself up, the weak feeling still lingering in my body.

"I'm fine, just took a hard hit." I muttered, placing my foot over the blood so he wouldn't see whatever was going on with me/

"You sure, you look really pale?" Aura asked, as the rest of my friends and Team RWBY began to get closer to me but I quickly waved at them.

"I'm fine." I said loudly, to all of them so that they didn't need to worry about me.

"You sure?" Aura asked quickly, looking me in the eye. I forced a smile on my face then nodded, despite the fact that I felt extremely weak.

"As sure as could be buddy." I laughed then looked to the others, who had formed a sort of half circle in front of me. Blake most of all look guilty and worried at the same time, which was not what I wanted. This wasn't her fault, but that did beg the question of what the hell this thing was.

"With that Team RWBY wins!" I heard Rain say excitedly as her and Celestia closed in on us. "With a 3-1 score."

"We suck." I said with a laugh looking at my friends who showed varying levels of annoyances with me.

"As Tank of the Team, it's no wonder I'm the only one who won. You all just need to train harder." He said glancing at Yang with lovestruck eyes, meanwhile she seemed dazed.

"Let's just go home." Aura suggested, to which I agreed. I didn't know when these… physical attacks would happen and I didn't wanna be all the way out here when it did happen.

"Thonway!" I yelled, pointing back to the path we had taken, then proceeding to walk forward.


	23. First time in the ring

Aura's PoV

"Here we go!" I cheered as I walked towards the arena.

This was it. My team and I putting together everything we had learned. Together, we would show the world what we were made of. We had trained hard over the past year, learning all we could, and this would be the culmination of that.

I looked around the Amity Colosseum, a massive stadium in the sky that could only be accessed by air transport, being that it hovered over the massive city I called home. Over the years, this colosseum had increased in size and technology, to accommodate the amount of people in Remnant who participated every year. In the main stands, thousands upon thousands of people sat to watch the matches unfold between the various schools of Remnant.

The battles themselves took place in the middle, plain, octagonal area. It didn't seem like much, but I knew its secret. The arena itself was capable of changing into different biomes, like a grassland or a sandy dune, even generating various structures as well. This kept not only the fighters in the dark, but the audience as well, ensuring no two years held the same tournament.

The tournament itself was divided into three different rounds; Teams, Doubles, and Singles. Whoever wins a round elects two team members into the next, and whoever wins that elects on for the finals, basically making it an elimination style tournament. The way you lose is if your aura drops below 15%, as displayed by the holographic monitors, or if you're knocked out of the ring. During the team rounds, the arena is divided into two biomes, during doubles the arena is divided into four, and during singles the arena doesn't divide at all. Only difference during singles is that the middle of the arena is the platform and the biome areas are dropped, making the battlefield smaller. Either way, it was a fun time for all those who didn't take it overly seriously. Which was obviously not how Yato, nor I, were taking it.

"Hell yeah! Let's screw them up!" Yato roared in boisterous confidence as he ran ahead, only to have his tail grabbed by Cypher, who seemed to have a playful smile on his face as well.

"Calm down monkey, they're not even here yet." He gruffed, referring to our opponents, Team NDGO from Shade Academy. A full female team comprised of Nebula Violette, Dew Gayl, Gwen Darcy, and Octavia Ember.

"Yato you must chill, you all have to listen to me and my strategy or we won't win. I've spent weeks working it out, and I'm seriously sure it will work." I urged him, and he just huffed and puffed. Yato was always one to want to dash into the fight and rely extremely heavily on his semblance, which wasn't going to ensure us the victory that we all so desired. Cypher, even though he was more monotone than anything, still seemed to want us to succeed just as much as I did. Zinex seemed a lot more distant than usual, especially since a few days ago. I wasn't sure what was going on with him, but I hoped it wasn't going to affect how we performed.

"Lets just hope everything goes well, a nice friendly fight would be nice." Cypher smiled as he glanced around at the crowd, which all seemed to be cheering. I glanced over to Zinex, who seemed to still be oddly quiet, I suspected by now he would have started talking but he absolutely hadn't said a word.

"You okay Zinex?" I questioned him, and he just turned and smiled at me.

"Absolutely fine, just wondering about a few things." He shrugged, folding his arms then leaning against one of the walls.

"I'm sure we'll, Zinex. We've been through a lot, sparred against Team RWBY, and have trained vigorously for this. I'm positive we can handle it" I said with confidence and determination, but Zinex's face didn't change at all. It seemed he was focused on something concentrated, but I couldn't figure out what it was at all.

"Wow, didn't need to look very far to hear any of you." The familiar voice of Rain said, clearing me out of my thoughts, I turned around to see Rain, Celeste, as well as teams RWBY and JNPR approaching us. "You guys talk way too loudly"

"Hey, what can we say? We're excited" I said, speaking for my team. I began smiling excitedly as I was quickly hugged tightly by Rain. After meeting her that one day at Mount Glenn, we both had connected in a strong way, we even became a couple after about a month and I couldn't be happier. Our last/first date was actually two days earlier, when we were still preparing for the tournament… Good times…

"Woah, when did this happen?" I heard Nora asked in confusion yet delight from behind Rain. I was about to respond, but Yato beat me to it.

"Two days ago. While we were working, he was slacking off with his girl." He said to the side of me, sounding slightly strained. Yang had left forward and taken him into a hug tighter than the one I had just endured. "Yang… Air… please."

"Oh, sorry…" I heard Yang chuckle, letting him go. Rain had loosened the hug and was simply just holding on to me, which she typically liked to do. This gave me the chance to look around me, and see how my friends were doing.

Yang and Yato were in fact hugging once again, Cypher and Weiss were holding each other's hands softly, and Zinex and Blake were hugging too. Well…that is... Blake was mostly doing the hugging. Zinex seemed to be slightly removed from the hug, a face I had come to know very well. He seemed slightly uncomfortable, which seemed odd to me. "So, how's it _yanging_ you four?"

"Team AYZC ready to roll out" Cypher said punching one fist into his hand and grinned broadly. "We're ready to give them the fight of their lives."

"I hope so" Pyrrha muttered showing concern for us.

"Those guys are tough, but I think you can handle them" Jaune encouraged, giving us a bright smile.

"Cross, don't come out… I'm not sure what's going on." Zinex spoke extremely softly, luckily due to my Faunus hearing, I was able to pick it out. Who was he talking to? I had never heard of anyone named Cross. I chalked it up to him talking on the phone with someone as Blake had walked away. Rain then took a vice grips around me, holding on to me hard…

"You okay there, Rain?" I asked my girlfriend worriedly. I felt a heat radiate off her cheeks as she let me go, and the blush she had was bright red as she chuckled to herself.

"Ye-yeah, Aura. I'm fine" She reassured me trying to hide her blush in her hands, I smiled at her, happy to have her around. This was truly the dream of my life.

"You better be. You don't need to worry about us though Rain, we've trained night and day for-" I started to say, glancing over at my team, only to find Zinex had completely disappeared. Where had he gone? I looked around the arena to find him in one of the stands, buying some food. "Really Zinex! Now?"

"Sorry dude, I need some food, skipped breakfast this morning.." he spoke jumping down from the high area that was the stand, then starting to eat his hot dog. I sighed then shook my head. "Something wrong?"

"Zinex, why now of all times?" Yato asked, confused, and I think we were all talking about the same thing. "You know they say never to eat before a big fight."

"Don't know what your talking about. I'm hungry, so I ate." He spoke, seemingly confused at us. Cypher just laughed and nodded in agreement with him. Zinex then shoved the rest of the hot dog into the mouth and clapped his hands together. "Now don't we half someone to fight or something?"

"Y-yeah." I said turning to Rain who looked just as confused. I was torn between relief that Zinex was alright, but also a bit weirded out by his sudden flip to normality. Just seconds ago he seemed to be lost in thought, now he seemed pumped for this battle. I was about to point this out but then our name was called, so I quickly filed it away for later.

"I guess you're up" Blake said in the trademark uninterested tone of voice. I really hoped that she would open up for us, at least considering she was dating my friend.

"I guess we are, let's go guys" Yato said as he suddenly dashed off from between Yang's arms. Making her yell out for him to be safe.

"And… there he goes. Might as well join him too, bye guys" Cypher said before quickly kissing Weiss, then dashed off too in order to join his simian teammate.

"And he's gone too… Welp let's get going Zi-" I began to say, turning towards Zinex, only to find that he had disappeared too. "And he's gone too… Great. Well... wish us luck everyone."

"Go get 'em!" Ruby called after me as I ran to join Zinex, Yato, and Cypher, who had all ran onto the battlefield, ready for anything.

"Show them the lengths of your training" I heard Celest rally.

"W- wish you luck, Aura!" I heard Rain barely cry out towards me. I sincerely hoped we could do this.

 **10 Minutes Later**

 **3rd Person Pov**

"Well… this is going to be interesting" Yato said as he and his friends got a good look at their competition. Standing a good distance away from them was Team NDGO, an all female huntress Team hailing from Shade Academy, in Vacuo. The members of said team were Nebula Violette, whose weapon was a convertible crossbow-sword; Dew Gayl, who's weapon of choice was a large spear; Gwen Darcy, who's weapon appeared to be a large collection of throwing knives which she kept in her attire; and Octavia Ember, whose weapon was a simple dagger. Despite the fact that they didn't seem like it, they were ready to prove their skills here in the tournament.

"Should we be afraid…?" Cypher questioned a bit worried about our conditions.

"Um… Maybe…?" Aura said confused, as they had yet to actually fight them or anyone wielding their type of weapons. Aura had planned for their opponents to be more balanced, with a healthy mix of ranged and close combat, but this didn't seem to be the case.

"I'm sure we can handle them" Yato said confidently as the terrain generator started up, making a loud whirring noise.

"You right, I mean… what's the worst that could ha-" Cypher started to say, making everyone groan loudly.

"Alright! Home field advantage!" Team AYZC heard one of their opponents cheer. Aura looked back towards them to see that NDGO's side of the field had turned into a desert-canyon type of area, with sand and cliffs in it. Yato and Aura looked to Cypherz both glaring daggers at him, but Zinex just seemed to be laughing.

"Really Cypher? Just had to say it!" Aura facepalmed as their sides terrain began changing.

"Okay, my bad. But still, it can't possibly get worse than this." Cypher said just as their terrain finished building. Behind them was a large sunken ship, a sandy beach and a small oasis like island. All of them just stared for a moment, but then finally Yato said something.

"Come on Cypher!" Yato cried out in frustration. They had practiced in many types of areas, but their absolute worst area was water. Cyphers powers were completely nullified by the ocean, Zinex's power went out of control when he used it under the water, Aura had a hard time controlling specific objects with all the water in the way, and Yato's fighting style meant he was nearly useless in that sort of terrain.

To say they were screwed was an absolute understatement.

They hadn't practiced for this, but Aura steeled his nerves. He hadn't come this far to let a small thing like terrain prevent him from winning.

"Don't worry guys, I got an idea, but it's going to involve all of us. We have to work together and you have to listen to me." Aura said, looking over at team NDGO, who looked very pleased with themselves. Aura gritted his teeth and tried to think as best as he could. Ozpin had put him in this position because he saw promise, and they had done well with the tasks they were given before. He knew that they could do this, all Aura had to do was think.

As he continued to try and think, the stage was set, and the battle was fast approaching. Unfortunately, before he could formulate a plan, the countdown to start the match had started. "Alright, let's do this!" Yato yelled as he pumped his fists.

"Yato wait don't-" Aura tried to say, however, as soon as the match started, Yato ran out towards the opposing team. "You can't just-"

"As Tank of the Team, I got this in the bag." Yato laughed as he crossed into the desert side of the battlefield in an attempt to strike one of his opponents... only to be effortlessly dodged by all of them. Yato then stumbled forwards, and tumbled into the sand face first. "Damn it!"

"Don't worry, I got you!" Cypher exclaimed, grabbing Yato's arm, and using one of his boomerangs to deflect a spear, thrown by Dew. It logged itself into the ground next to Yato, but before he knew it, he was already on his feet with Cypher grinning at him.

"Thanks Cy." Yato said loudly, dusting his clothes off then getting into a fighting stance, putting his fists up and staring down his opponent.

"I'll take knife girl, you take the Spear girl." Cypher smiled as he pulled his other boomerang, and clicked a button on the side of each, turning them into pistols.

"Got it!" Yato said nodding his head then looking down towards Dew, who had a serious look on her face. She was a bit more muscular than all of the other girls on the team, and that wasn't out of the ordinary for someone wielding a spear, however, what was odd was when she reached her hand out. Her spear shot from out of the ground and rushed towards Yato, nearing impaling him. He quickly rolled out of the way then shot forward, throwing a punch in the direction of Dew, an explosion roaring through the air. Dew leapt away from the punch almost effortlessly.

"You must be quickly than that Yato, I've heard a lot about you, so you better not disappoint." She said in a voice that was full of honor, with a hint of a challenge. Yato grinned ever so slightly.

There was no way he was going to turn down a challenge.

"You think you stand a chance against the Tank of the Team? You got another thing coming missy." Yato laughed, turning to face her. She had a wide smile on her face as all of her muscles flexed, Yato pulling off a similar sort of move.

"Then give me all you got." Dew said as she ran forward, Yato copying. They both began yelling and then they collided, with an explosion of attacks.

But things were different for Cypher.

He had torn off after Gwen, who was making her way away from the main chunk of the battle, back towards the water area that had formed on the AYZC side of the field. On the environment was a number of barrels, debris, and a large boat in the dead center, and Gwen had taken to jumping from barrel to barrel, from wood plank to wood plank, giving Cypher the chase of his life.

"Oh do keep up big guy." Gwen cooed over the sound of waves. The environment was very realistic, Cypher noticed, to the point where his semblance wouldn't be very effective at all.

"Don't call me that." Cypher growled as he jumped onto yet another barrel, trying to keep up with the nimble girl, but not really doing as well as he thought he might. He was a big guy after all.

"Oh, you don't like that? How about we turn up the...heat, shall we?" Gwen said, smirking as she jumped onto the ship, looking down at Cypher as he struggled to keep his balance on a wooden plank. She then pulled out a number of throwing knives, pulling her arm back then launching one square at his head.

"Ha!" Cypher yelled as he smacked the knife out of the air with one of his boomerangs, then shot a few fire dust bullets at Gwen, but she just snickered and dove into the water. Cypher looked around quickly, trying to find Gwen in the murky water, but it didn't take long to find her. A knife flew towards Cypher, right from inside the water, and quickly Cypher pulled his aura shield up, but the force was more than he was expecting. He tumbled back, and fell into the water with a huge splash, sinking into the murky water where his opponent was waiting.

 _ **In the audience…**_

"So far so good, right guys…?" Jaune asked his friends as he watched the match below, a bit uneasily. He knew that they had practiced, but watching this match made him really acknowledge just how good the other academies were.

"I mean if they're THIS good, that just means our opponents will be good too!" Nora said in an obliviously happy tone of voice, unknowingly increasing Jaune's nervousness and fear. She quickly tore through a bag of chips that she had purchased and was looking longingly at Ren's, who was taking his time eating as he watched the match with an almost eagle eye.

"Haha… Yeah…" Jaune chuckled nervously, now starting to slightly sweat. Ren put a hand on his shoulder, calming him and keeping him from thinking about it any further.

"Relax. We're as much as prepared as they are." Ren said as he looked at his teammate, doing his best to reassure him.. "We've known that there would be some formidable people here, but as long as we stick together, we can do this."

Ren was right, every team here was prepared to fight, and Team JNPR was no different. Taking a deep breath, Jaune cleared his mind and calmed down. "You're right. Thanks Ren."

"Um… That's great and all that you two had your bro moment, but… COULD YOU HELP US!?" Weiss yelled in an angry yet stressed voice. Jaune and Ren looked over to see that Weiss, along with Blake and Ruby were trying to hold back a very pissed off and fiery Yang; while Pyrrha and Celest were attempting to do the same with Rain, who had water flowing around her.

"When I get my hands on them, I swear they're going to know the true meaning of pain!" Yang almost roared as she attempted to reach the railing in front of her. Hearing the conversation between Yato and Dew set her off, and she was plotting their possible injuries.

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

"Zinex!" Aura yelled as he was slammed in the stomach by Octavia's dagger hilt. Aura had separated his sword, Mythrid Truths, but even with the lightness of the two blades, he was still getting his ass handed to him.

"What?" Zinex question as he smacked off a Nebula's blade as she tried to attack Zinex. They were both in the desert, a short distance away from the battling Yato and Dew, but this battle wasn't going so hot for Aura.

"I need a little-" He tried to say, but Octavia managed to slide within his guard once again and slam into his stomach, causing him to grunt extremely heavily. He had no other choice, he could only do one thing. He quickly rotated his tails, and flew up into the air, hoping to escape the unbelievable speed of Octavia, who was more suited to be dealt with by Zinex, but she was much much quicker than him.

"Oh no you don't, foxie." Octavia grinned, grabbing onto one of his tales, and pulling him to the ground quickly. "You won't escape me that easily cutie."

"Stop that!" Aura yelled loudly, falling to his back, blushing a vibrant shade of red. Octavia quickly jumped onto his lap and smiled at him as she ran her dagger across his chest softly.

"Oh yes you will do nicely." She smiled as she bent down, pinning Aura to the ground. He struggled against her grip, but she was physically stronger than him, and it showed. She bent down, her intent to kiss him evident, and Aura could do nothing more than plead.

"Please no." He groaned as he glanced to the left, both of his blades knocked from his hand. If only Zinex and Yato had listened to him instead of running off, they could have gone for the team in a smart way, but this was all wrong. He knew Zinex was better equipped to face Octavia, and noticing Nebula's slow movements, but an immense amount of power behind each swing, he knew he was more equipped to face her, as he was able to push more force into his weapons with his semblance.

"Oh be quiet, you'll enjoy it, they all do." Octavia cooed as her lips neared Aura's.

"Gottem." A voice said from just above Aura, but he couldn't imagine who, then as he glanced up. Zinex had somehow appeared. But he had been much too far away, how had he-

"Keep out of personal business!" Octavia said, seemingly just as confused, but she quickly rose, trying to slash at Zinex with her knife, only to find it nowhere. Aura distinctly remembered her holding it however, what was going on?

"Missing something?" Zinex questioned with a grin on his face, holding up the very dagger that she had been holding seconds earlier.

"How did you-" Octavia said, but Zinex was faster to react. He smacked Octavia in the face then kicked her in the stomach. This let Aura pull away from her pin, and grab up Mythrid Truths. He spun around, looking for Nebula, and found that she had ended up in the water, anger filling her expression. It seemed whatever Zinex had done, she hadn't liked it. Aura glanced back towards Zinex, who was now chasing after Octavia, who had realized she stood no chance without her prized dagger, which Zinex still held.

"Okay you get her! I'll get Nebula!" Aura said, turning back to Nebula, and seeing that she had targeted him out. He ran forwards, pushing Mythrid Truth together, and preparing himself for Nebula, who looked like she wanted nothing more than to bash his skull in.

And that's the exact emotion Rain felt as she watched from the stands.

"Rain, just calm down… It's going to be alright" Celest said trying to soothe her aquatic friend, who was staring at the match below. Seeing Octavia had tried to take the lips that belonged to her made something snap in her, making her want to drown the Dagger wielding woman who was on top of him. As she was standing up, preparing to call the might of the entire ocean upon Octavia; the others, the ones not holding Yang back, rose and pushed her back. As she used the water around her to push against them, she saw something she didn't understand.

Zinex knocked the blade from Nebula's hand, into the water near them, then delivered a kick to her chest, sending Nebula into the water. He then glanced back at Aura, and a small smile came from him. Then, it happened.

He instantly vanished from the spot he had been standing, and as Rain's eyes looked around to find him, she saw that he was somehow directly over the two's heads, with the knife Octavia had been holding in his hand.

"Impossible." Rain spoke, losing her concentration, causing the water that had surrounded her to fall onto the stands. She glanced over, towards the sand that had come between the two fights, and saw something she still didn't understand.

Not a single footprint lay between the fight, as if Zinex hadn't walked towards them.

"Ye- Yeah… He's okay now. There's no need to go too far…" Pyrrha said fearfully, as she pushed Rain into her seat. Rain didn't fight back this time, but rather stared at Zinex as he chased Octavia away from Aura.

"Don't worry about me, I'm perfectly calm…they have it handled it seems." Rain said in a frightening monotone voice, as she kept her eyes locked on Aura. She would question Zinex later, but there was more important business with Aura, and Nebula. "I just need to wash a bit of filth off the stadium… **And possibly some blood as well…** "

"Rain, No!" Celest cried out in slight audible fear. She hoped she wouldn't have to use her abilities to stop Rain, but she was scared she might have to. Celest hoped this matched ended soon, before someone got hurt or killed by Rain or even Yang.

And the friends of AYZC being so invested in Yang and Rain not destroying anyone, it gave someone a perfect cover.


	24. The Glorious Four

"I owe Zinex, big time…" Aura said as he carefully shot to the side, dodging an arrow shot from the crossbow sword that Nebula held. He wanted to glance back towards Zinex, to thank him, but Nebula was keeping him quite busy on the desert side of the battlefield. However, as he glanced behind Nebula, he saw his friends, and saw something he half-expected to see.

Rain was glaring at him extremely angrily, her arms folded. This made him feel extremely guilty, which almost got him killed.

"Seems you're focused on other things. This is good, I'll quickly end you, then your friend will be next. No one makes a fool of me." Nebula said, her crossbow transforming back into a sword. She slashed down at Aura slowly, which gave him a decent amount of time to recover and move both of his blades up in an effort to block her. Her blade hit hard, with a large amount of power, knocking Aura back.

"Good one, but allow me to return the favor." Aura said, getting his balanced then launching himself forward with his tails. He focused his semblance into his blades, and pushed forward against the large sword that Nebula held. Nebula gripped her blade with all her effort and tried to block Mythrid Truths, but it was all to no avail. Nebula's blade was slammed hard, and though she was able to keep her block up, the sheer force of Mythrid Truths vibrated through Nebula's hands and made them sear in pain. She slid back a few feet, growling in pain, which made Aura happy with himself.

He was actually doing well for once in this fight.

"Yah!" Aura yelled, slashing towards Nebula, who tried to block, but Aura was faster than her. His two swords slammed against her aura, dropping it to 50 percent, then trying to slash again. Nebula had learned her lesson however, and backed up, Aura had become dangerous to her, and Aura knew that all too well.

"You fight well." Nebula spoke as she backed up towards the water's edge, trying to get out of swinging range of Aura, but Aura just continued to cockily walk forward towards her.

"My team and I have been training hard for this." Aura smiled, as he glanced behind Nebula, but what he saw was something he didn't like at all.

Cypher was losing extremely badly.

"Arg." Cypher yelled as he was slammed out of the water, smashing into the wood boat, and breaking onto the main deck. He had lost one of his boomerangs, 60 percent of his aura, and one of his shoes were missing.

He wasn't in the best state and he knew it.

"Well big guy, I thought you would be the biggest challenge, but you aren't too scary are yah?" Gwen said as she vaulted from out of the water effortlessly, landing on the bow of the ship and looking down on Cypher, who hadn't gotten up yet. "Seems your team isn't too coordinated are they?"

"And with that! Octavia is down for the count, her aura has dropped to 10 percent, defeated by Zinex!" One of the announcers shouted loudly, causing Gwen to glance over in almost disbelief. What she saw, was impossible to her. Zinex was standing over Octavia with a grin on his face as he held his hand out, trying to give her knife back. Octavia was bruised a bit, and was grimacing heavily as she snatched the knife back, then walked off of the battlefield. Gwen grimaced as well then turned back to Cypher.

"We're going to have to finish this quick, big guy." Gwen said jumping down onto the deck of the ship, walking slowly towards Cypher with her throwing knives out. Cypher was quickly to get to his feet, only to have a knife embedded itself into his leg. He ground in pain, but raised his boomerang and fired a bolt of fire dust at Gwen, who quickly rolled out of its way before it had even the slightest chance to hurt her.

"Stay still." Cypher grunted, as he realized he was out of ammo, but he had no time to reload, he knew he would already be gone by that point. He knew his aura was only at 25 percent, with no hope of coming back.

Then, as if he had always been there, someone talked from the crows nest.

"O' Captain my Captain." A sarcastic voice spoke, and as Cypher looked up he saw Zinex, smiling down at him.

"Don't interfere!" Gwen yelled, throwing a knife Zinex's way, he quickly ducked into the crows nest, dodging her knife, and she quickly threw another at Cypher, who smacked it out of the air with his boomerang. However, the knife did manage to cut his hand, dropping his aura to 20 percent, he was almost out of the game.

Cypher quickly stood up and back up on the deck, staring Gwen down as she smiled at him, standing her ground. Cypher was screwed if she threw another blade, his only hope was Zinex. Gwen twisted her arm back, and threw another blade with all her might, but this one time Zinex wasn't fast enough. He reached over the side, pointing a single finger at the blade as it flew through the air. A lightning bolt tore out from his finger, but he had miscalculated the speed of it, and the lightning bolt slammed into the deck of the ship, not hitting its target.

No, it was no Zinex who saved Cypher, but rather another fighter.

"Take this!" A loud voice echoed from the other side of the battlefield as a silver blade slammed into the knife, knocking it away from Cypher, and instead lodging it into the deck next to Cypher. The blade was one piece of Mythrid Truths, and Cypher quickly took it up, ditching his boomerang, and wielding the sword, which looked a lot better with his large, muscular frame.

"You all are infuriating, but quite attractive." Gwen spoke, laughing slightly to herself. Then pulling even more blades from her pockets. "But that won't help you with me. I've studied all of you very well, you were the biggest threats to us after all, but you also have the biggest weaknesses."

"What do you mean biggest weakness?" Cypher questioned, getting into a defensive as he readied himself for her to throw the knives.

"It means you all are exploitable" Gwen yelled as she threw more knives at him. While Cypher was able to block and defend from some of them, the rest were able to make it through Cyphers guard and hit him directly in the stomach. He grunted in pain as he attempted to run, only to have more thrown at his feet, blocking his stride. "There's no point in running! Besides, who'd come to help you?!"

Just as she said that, a loud booming noise came from a decent distance away from them, both Cypher and Gwen turned to look at the noise with confusion evident in their expressions. The noise had come from Yato, who had expertly used his semblance to launch himself off of the sand that made up the desert biome, into the air, escaping from his fight with Dew, and soaring in the air.

"You all are irritating." Gwen said angrily as she drew more knives from her seemingly never ending pockets, then tossed them at Yato, who was falling towards the ship.

"Not today!" Another voice yelled, and Zinex had chosen now to make his appearance. He jumped from the crows nest, towards the flying knives, and slashed at them with his pure black sword. The three knives that Gwen had thrown were all smacked towards the water. "You're clear!"

"Thanks Z!" Yato yelled back as Gwen gritted her teeth. She turned back towards Cypher, and threw more knives. Cypher tried his best to stop them from hitting him, and dropping his aura even further, but he was unsuccessful. All four knives hit their targets, and he was forced to use the remaining part of his aura that would keep him in the tournament, but the payment was not without reward. As Cypher had kept Gwen busy, Yato was able to land on the ship next to her and before she could react he threw his fist out, an explosion tearing through the air which knocked Gwen clean off her feet.

"You asshole." Gwen growled as she dug knives out of her pockets secretly, intending to embed them into Yato's stomach, and drop his aura as well. That is, until a black blade tip appeared in front of her face, stopping her movement immediately. She glanced up and saw ZInex, dripping from his plunge into the water. He had a wide grin on his face, despite the fact that his black trench coat looked to be bogging him down.

"Gottem." He said slowly, which by this point seemed to be his catch phrase.

"How did you get here so fast?" Gwen seethed in anger, but Zinex simply laughed a hearty laugh then looked up towards Yato.

"You want to finish her off?" Zinex questioned and Yato grinned broadly. He drew his fist back and slammed it down on her leg, forcing her to use up all of her aura to protect her body, thus knocking her out of the battle.

"With a swiftness both Gwen and Cypher are knocked out of the battle, bringing to the total of 3 fighters for AYZC and 2 fighters for NDGO. With two fighters knocked out, can Team NDGO beat team AYZC?" The announcer boomed through the crowd, which was watching in sheer anticipation of this fight.

"I'm sorry guys." Cypher said in a defeated way, standing up and dropping one piece of Aura's sword onto the deck, looking up at Zinex and Yato as they watched Gwen walk away in a huff. The two turned towards Cypher, both smiling.

"No problem, we got her down after all, didn't we?" Zinex questioned as he spun his sword in a circle. Cypher noticed that the sword looked obviously different than the one he had been using before this tournament, it was nowhere near as thick, and seemed a lot more balanced, as well as shorter than the previous weapon, but Cypher just chalked this up to his tired mind.

"Yeah! Don't go doubting our win now, With the Tank of the Team still here, we are bound to win!" Yato exclaimed, more joking than serious, and Cypher couldn't help but laugh and smile.

"You're right, kick their asses for me." Cypher grinned, making a fist, then looking at them with honor deep within all of their eyes.

"You betcha." Zinex spoke, but this was not the end of their fight. A spear lodged itself between Yato and Zinex, then its owner landed not too far in front of them, a grin deep within their face. Dew had caught up with Yato.

"Running away from a battle? Seems you've lost your honor of being a hunter." Dew spoke, as she slammed into the deck, reaching her hand out. Her spear instantly returned to her hand, then she brandished it in a violent way, as if thinking which one of the two she wanted to impale first.

"There's no shame in running away, keeps you alive." Zinex said, taking a defensive stand, as he held his sword in front of him, keeping his eyes locked on Dew, whose large frame was obviously a threat to both of them.

"This is a team fight isn't it? You're divide and conquer strategy isn't going to work with us. AYZC is stronger together than any other team!" Yato yelled in defiance as he raised his fists, not daring to draw his sword.

"Two on one then? Don't you think this is a bit unfair?" Dew spoke, smiling as she glanced between the two of them. She didn't seem afraid at all that she would have to fight the two of them, but rather elated.

"I mean, as Tank, I could win any fight alone. But to make sure my friend gets glory too, I'll allow him to fight alongside me." Yato said, flexing his muscles as he stared deeply at Dew, waiting for any movement that would indicate she was about to attack.

"I saw you getting your ass handed to you, don't even try that on me." Zinex laughed, and Yato shot him a glare. Dew immediately saw this, and with speed and precision, she threw the spear with all of her might at Yato. Yato, who didn't have enough time to move out of the way, braced his aura for impact, but it never came. It seemed that midair, the spear moved at almost light speed and flew right past Yato, missing him completely. Yato couldn't believe his eyes, but he really didn't have the time to question anything, as Zinex yelled and ran forward, swinging his sword. Dew jumped back, recognizing that she had missed her throw, then reaching her hand out. "Catch it Yato!"

"On it!" Yato yelled back, turning around and seeing the spear flying in the air towards Dew, but Yato would make sure it never made it to its target. He reached his hand out as the spear neared him, grabbing onto the pole, but he hadn't anticipated just how much force the pole was traveling with. His feet immediately began sliding towards Dew, who was doing her best to avoid Zinex's quick slashs, while still holding her hand out.

"Let go!" Dew yelled at Yato, as she quickly ducked, rolling backwards. Yato however, did quite the opposite. He grabbed the spear with his other hand, and tried with all of his might to move in the opposite direction, but even with all of his strength, it simply was not enough. His feet continued to slide on the wood planks, ever so slowly moving towards Dew. However, Yato knew Zinex to be an extremely good sword fighter, if he just gave him enough time, he was sure Zinex could finish her off.

"Zinex, quickly please!" Yato yelled over to Zinex, who was slicing and dicing as fast as he could, but it didn't seem to be fast enough for the spear wielding warrior. She dodged this way and that, keeping her eyes locked on Zinex.

"Such skill, such form, someone is certainly learned." Dew grinned as she sidestepped Zinex's black blade, then put a bit of distance between her and him. She recognized his precision with his blade, and she knew if she let him get her once, she might not make it through the rest of the fight. She vaulted back, using her strong legs to launch herself into the air, and onto the top deck of the boat. "As much as I would like you to touch me, you seem to be quite dangerous with your blade."

"What's love without a little pain?" Zinex grinned widely as he spread his arms wide open.

"Can you stop...flirting...and kick...her ass!" Yato yelled, grunting heavily as the spear pulled him slowly towards Dew.

"Right." He muttered then turned back to Dew. "You know your pretty fast, pretty too, but I think we already got you cornered.

"Cornered? Excuse me, just what do you think-" Dew started to say, but then Zinex vanished from in front of both Yato's and Dew's eyes. "Where did you-"

"Hello there." A voice said from behind Dew, and before she could react, Zinex smashed the hilt of his sword into her head, and she fell to the lower part of the ship. She grasped her head in pain, then turned her fiery eyes to Yato. The spear was torn from his hand, with an incredible ferocity, but Zinex was already in her range.

"You'll pay for that!" Dew yelled, as the spear landed into her hand.

"Hows two hits for the price of one?" Zinex questioned as he sliced his sword at her. She quickly flipped her spear to the side as she got up, stopping his sword at the dead center of the spear. Dew thought she had achieved the upper hand, but instead, Zinex did something that seemed impossible yet again. His sword instantly vanished, and he threw his right fist out, where a ring had now appeared, and made contact directly with Dew face, she stumbled back instantly, confused at how he had done that. Just as she was questioning how he had did that however, he spun, and within the next instant, his sword was back in his hand and he swung at her side.

She grunted as she pushed her body to block the shot, but she knew she had to rely on her torso armor to block the strike, along with her aura, which she really didn't want to use. The sword collided with her aura/armor fusion and a loud bang echoed between them.

This was about the same time that Aura got smacked in the face back the hilt of Nebula's crossbow sword.

"You must learn to protect your face." Nebula said, smiling broadly. The fight between them was seriously going her way, which was making Aura seeth in anger. All of the training, all of the practice, he had to win this fight, for himself. By himself.

"Yah!" Aura yelled, reaching his semblance out as he swung his blade. This was a trick that Zinex had taught him, or rather suggested to him. If Aura could get ahold of his opponents weapon with his mind, he could cause some seriously interesting things to happen. "Take THIS!"

"What the-" Nebula started to say as the sword in her hand began to twist and reshape into the crossbow it could turn into, which obviously was not what Nebula wanted. "Filthy cheater."

"It's not cheating if I'm playing by the rules." Aura grinned as he slashed forward with his one part of Mythrid Truth. Nebula then raised the crossbow up to guard herself, stopping the blade, but Aura tried something that Yato had suggested. As the blade collided with the sword, he let go of the grip, ducked under the clash, then pushed off the ground, tackling her to the ground, then spinning his tails, and dragging her against the ground.

"Let me go!" Nebula yelled as the sand blasted her. She threw down her crossbow, towards Aura's arms, but Aura was already ready. He immediately dropped her, then landed on the ground himself, rolling to lower his speed. He spun around and took a defensive stance as he watched the sputtering Nebula get up. She cursed for a moment, changed her crossbow back to a sword then glared menacingly at Aura, then a grin formed upon her face. "I see your weaponless, what will you do now Faunus?"

"Anything's a weapon if you're brave enough." Aura grinned then reached his hands to the ground. Suddenly a rumbling filled the entire NDGO side of the stadium, and slowly the sand around Nebula began rising, the sand around that beginning to fill in.

"Are you insane?!" Nebula questioned as she tried to back up from the rising sand, blue glowing light surrounding it.

"No, just creative." Aura smugly replied, then crushed his hands together. The sand followed suit, and quickly crushed Nebula inside, one last scream emanating from her before the sand covered her up. Aura glanced at the big screen that tracked their aura's for the audience, and saw that she had dropped to a 7 percent, she was out.

Aura felt a huge sense of relief come over him as he sank to his knees, exhaustion beginning to set into his muscles, as if he had lifted all that sand himself. He had never tried that before, and he understood why he hadn't. He felt weak, a bit dizzy, but was happy that he had defeated her, all on his own.

"You little cheating fox!" Aura heard a yell overtake the stadium, and from the sand burst Nebula, who had bruises on her face, and sand all over her body and hair. She was angry beyond compare, looking like she was ready to beat Aura into nothingness.

"No. I won. Fair and square." Aura spoke as he gestured weakly towards the TV screens, showing that Nebula had been knocked out of the game. She glared for a moment at the screens, then simply huffed and puffed, spinning around, and walking towards where her other teammates were standing, looking angry as ever. He then glanced over to his own teammates, who were making quick work of the last member of NDGO.

Boom.

The sound of Yato's punch was one that echoed louder than the crowd could cheer, and by this point, the crowd was cheering for AYZC. Yato felt this energy from the crowd and put all of his effort into one final punch.

"ORA!" Yato yelled, his voice booming just as his fist did. His fist had connected with Dew's spear, and blasted it out of her hands, sending it careening into the ocean. Then Zinex was there, just as the daze of Yato putting everything into his semblance appeared. Zinex quickly got into her guard, punching faster and harder than she had anticipated. She blocked left, right, up, down, but punch after punch slipped by her, slamming into the metal of her chestplate. She noted that Zinex's fists were bleeding slightly, but she also noted dents were forming in her armor.

"Enough of that!" Dew shouted, reached her hand out for her spear, letting herself take a punch to her gut. She grunted hard, but quickly returned her hand. It would only take a second to get to her, she thought, she just had to survive long enough for it to get here, then she would be victorious. She met Zinex's eyes, and a look of pure determination filled them. He was the only one left who could still fight. Sure the other two still had their aura's, but due to their lavish use of their semblances, they were out for the count. One swing would bring them to an end, that was their fatal flaw, but Zinex didn't seem to be letting up.

And letting up he didn't.

He threw another punch at her gut, and as she tried to block it, he quickly summoned his sword from the ring on his finger. In milliseconds, the sword faded into reality, replacing the ring, then stood in the path of the spear, knocking the sword to the side. Dew, who had been expecting her spear, had reached her hand out, but all she got was the unstoppable force of her spear, directly into her arm. She yelled in pain, but Zinex quickly saw his opportunity, he returned his sword back to the ring, then punched forward, directly at her chin. She quickly flung her hand up, grabbing his wrist before it could make contact.

"Shit." Zinex muttered, as he tried to throw his other fist at her, but she quickly ducked to the side, twisting his wrist, then moving behind him, forcing him to take a knee to the ground.

"You broke my arm, give up or I'll return the favor." Dew said, breathing extremely heavily. Her breath was ragged, indicating she was fighting back the pain that overtook her body. Zinex too was injured however, and breathing just as heavily. He was bleeding from his fists, and his arms felt numb from having to take the sheer force of each impact.

"Not...in yah dreams." Zinex chuckled tiredly, then, he vanished.

And thus, Dew lost.

She felt a sharp point touch the back of her neck, and she quickly raised her hands.

"How did you do that?" Dew questioned, pushing her aura to heal her arm, which it only did very slowly and slightly. Broken arms were trouble for aura.

"Questions, Questions. Everyone seems to be full of them." ZInex said with a slight laugh as he lowered his sword. The crowd broke out into a roaring applause, minus that of the Shade academy students, and Dew turned towards her adversary. He had picked up her spear, somehow, in the split second he moved behind her, and was holding it out towards her. For a moment she looked at her spear, then took it from his hand.

"I'll take it then, that you won't tell me?" Dew question, and Zinex just smiled. Dew chuckled a bit then walked away from him, knowing she was never going to get her answer. "Good fight then, I hope we have a chance to meet again."

"I'm certain we will." Zinex said giving her a small wave, as he turned towards Yato.

Thus, Team AYZC defeated NDGO, and the crowd couldn't be happier. This was especially true for the friends of Rain and Yang, who no longer had to break their backs to hold them back.

Thus, 20 minutes passed, in which the battlefield returned to normal, and the crowd settled.

"Hell yeah, we did it!" Yato cheered as he pumped his fist into the air, creating a small explosion in celebration. He had recovered quite quickly from the large release of power he had demonstrated to the crowd, which wasn't quite odd for him.

"That was rough…" Aura said in mental exhaustion, still amazed that they had managed to pull off a victory. While he believed in himself and his team, he never expected anything in the match to happen. "But still, hooray!"

Cypher then high fived Yato, giving his own wordless cheer as he breathed extremely heavily. Cypher felt a little bad that he had been the only one out of the four that had been knocked out of the match, but to both Aura and Yato, he had tried his best. After all, the match had been set up against him. Zinex however, was oddly silent and almost distant, but he still had a pleased sort of smile on his face as he played with the ring on his finger. He then looked up, just as everyone else on the team was congratulating themselves, and saw their friends.

"Here comes the party." Zinex said cooly, with a smile.

"Congratulations everyone!" The four friends heard Ruby cry from a distance. They all looked to see them all approaching, some of them looking exhausted, however.

"That match was quite intriguing." Ren said looking to all of them, but his locking on Zinex, who had conveniently taken to looking over his sopping wet coat, confused.

"Yeah it was, those girls were… tough…" Yato began, only to have his words die in his throat as he watched Yang slowly approach him, her hair covering her eyes as she did. Yato's eyes widenely quickly, and he immediately noticed the feeling in the area. "Uh… H- Hey Yang…"

"Do y'all hear that rumbling?" Zinex questioned softly, with a wild grin on his face as he glanced towards Yang.

"Do you… Have any idea… How mad I am…?" Yang questioned in a low venomous tone, her hair and aura flaring up. Everyone, minus Yato who was frozen in fear, took a cautionary step back to avoid what might happen.

"H- How mad…?" Yato asked, looking to his friends, then taking a step back as well. He knew immediately that this was not going to turn out well for him. He turned his wide eyes back to Yang, and began backing up slowly. "Okay, I-I can explain. I uh…"

"Yato… I advise you to run" Celest said as Yang slowly raised her hands and cracked her knuckles. "Now."

Before anyone could react, Yato bolted away from where he stood, only to have Yang chase after him a millisecond later. "Wait till I get my hands on you! I'll make sure you can't walk straight for weeks!"

"Let me explain!" Yato cried far in the distance as he attempted to run from his extremely angry girlfriend.

"Should we stop them…?" Blake asked as she walked up and stood next to Zinex, who glanced over towards her with the smile still on his face, then turned back to Yang chasing Yato.

"Yeah I'll get it." Zinex muttered, as he began to jog off after them. On the screen of the battlefield, showed the chase, and the crowd began cheering as if it were a part of the tournament.

"They should be back in about… two minutes." Aura predicted, as he watched the chase unfold upon the screen. Rain began to make her way towards Aura silently, her hair covering her eyes as she did. Hearing footsteps, Aura turned back around to see his girlfriend making her way towards him eirely silently, causing him to sweat a bit. "Um… Rain…"

Rain did not say a thing as she looked at him, freaking him out a bit more as she did so. Her blue eyes glowing slightly as she pushed her hair away. She had a serious look on her face as her eyes bore into Aura's, making him stay frozen in place, not knowing what to expect. Everyone else in the group held their breaths, thinking the same thing that had happened to Yato would thus happen to Aura.

But what she did next completely flustered him, and confused everyone else.

She grabbed him by the shirt, pulled him close, and kissed him passionately. Aura completely froze up as soon as he felt her lips on his, not expecting such admiration and love to flow into his body. He could feel her unspoken pride, her unspoken gratitude, and her unspoken love for him. It was a beautiful moment, one that everyone in that stadium missed, but their friends did not.

Ruby and Pyrrha were blushing fiercely, Weiss was practically steaming as she watched it unfold, Cypher and Celest were left slack jawed in awe as they didn't expect this to happen. Ren however, we stoic as usual, not showing any sort of shock or blush as he watched the two lock lips; as for Nora, she took out her scroll and snapped several pictures of this moment, getting all sorts of angles of this moment.

The kiss lasted for a good minute before Rain separated and cupped Aura's cheeks. the young fox faunes completely red in the face as he looked at her, unable to get a word out due to embarrassment. She smiled, a smile that Aura found all the beauty of the world in, there was no sight more engaging to Aura.

"You are mine… No one else's…" She muttered in a whisper as she looked into his eyes, her own half open as she breathed deeply. "I love you, my little kit…"

Aura, still unable to process what had just happened, could only let out small gasps of breath as a sort of response. He was absolutely taken aback by her, but then a warm feeling began spreading through his body, and as if a little voice was speaking through him, he spoke.

"Forever, I will be by your side." He spoke softly, only to her, and no one else.

He hadn't realized he had just spoken within her mind.


	25. Reunion of Lost Souls

(Aura's POV)

"When did you learn how to do it?" Rain asked me, in a hushed tone as a fight engaged before us. She was cuddled quite close to me, with my arm wrapped around her back, and my wrist hanging off of her right shoulder. She was nuzzling into my left shoulder, her eyes locked on the fight, but her thoughts seemed to keep straying towards me.

"I didn't… well I didn't know I could do it…" I admitted sheepishly. She was referring to around an hour prior, when I had spoken directly into her mind. I hadn't believed it myself, but as I had found, it was something that had unlocked itself in a moment of pure love.

And that connection still hadn't been broken.

"Do it again." Rain said a bit curiously. I took a gulp of air in, then closed my eyes, shutting off the world around me, and really feeling as if I were shut off. Then, as if my mind trying to visualize what was happening, I saw a blue raindrop in the distance of the blackness I was now seeing. I moved towards it, swiftly as I possibly could. As I reached it, I felt immense love, immense passion, and amounts of care I could simply not comprehend.

I was touching Rain's mind.

"I love you." I spoke, not aloud, but in her mind. Immediately, I pulled myself back to reality, dropping contact with her mind, and seeing a smile appear on her face. She was truly the most beautiful person I had ever seen.

"You really are silly, you know that?" Rain teased a bit, and I couldn't help but laugh a little nervously. I glanced at her, and recalled our first meeting, and the sheer amount of time we had spent together after that. It had been months, and our love since then had grown and flourished. It seemed, however, that as much as we had been spending together, I hadn't been looking to my friends. I felt like a change had occurred between them, as if the time that had passed had affected them differently. Cypher, who was once cold and calculating, had turned into a very carefree and mindless individual, devoted to nothing but having a good time. Yato seemed a lot more calculating, though with Yang tugging at him, he still hadn't lost his sense of humor. He had definitely grown up alot.

Then there was Zinex.

I glanced around to him, seeing that he had placed himself a few seats behind Rain and I, and saw the much different expression on his face. He seemed serious, the goofiness that had always been carried around him no longer seemed to be there. It was as if whatever sickness he had obtained had pulled it directly out of him. This worried me, these were my brothers after all.

"Take a picture, they last longer you know." Zinex called with a grin on his face, and I immediately turned back around to the fight, shaking my head. I laughed a bit and turned back to watch the fight, but the unease still stuck in his stomach. He recalled how fast Zinex had been able to get from place to place, definitely not abiding by his own semblances capabilities, but somehow he had done it anyways.

"You know your cute when your worried, but learn to smile too." Rain said, breaking me from my thoughts. I smiled softly as I looked into her eyes, her warmth flowing into me. Instantly I felt better. "What's concerning you?"

"It's just...things seem so different. Between me and them." Aura spoke glancing over at his team. They had practiced together, sure. They had lived in the same dorms, sure. Though, they seemed distant from each other, unless they were all holding weapons.

"Them and I Aura, don't forget your grammar." Rain chuckled, booping me on my nose softly, then returning her head to my chest. "Don't worry so much. People change, but they also have a way of sticking together. That's just how things are after all."

"I suppose your right."

"I'm _always_ right."

"Yeah, yeah." I laughed softly, laying my head on hers. I closed my eyes again, blotting the world out. I wanted to practice whatever this was more. The blackness came again, and the world closed off from me once more, and in front of me, the raindrop appeared. I lifted my hand, intending to reach out for it, but something inside me screamed no. I dropped my hand immediately, and as if a wind was blowing, I felt my consciousness being pulled around.

As I did a full 180, I saw something I didn't expect. A lightning bolt, indicating what I assumed to be Zinex, was now in front of me, a ways away. The lightning bolt, however, looked to be intersected by a clock, with an odd shadowy figure placed next to intersected object.

"What the-" I questioned and the shadowy figure turned, and I saw what looked to be glowing lapis eyes.

"Must you be so loud?" The shadowy figure questioned, in a high pitched girly voice. "Every telepath within a 30 mile radius is going to have heard you."

"W-Wha-" I question, absolutely confused. I watched as the glowing lapis eyes rose, reaching my height.

"You aren't ready, begone." The shadowy figure spoke again, then the world came rushing back into my eyes. My senses weren't ready for all the cheering and roaring, and even all the colors and smells. It was as if all my senses had been asleep, but my conscious had been fully awake. I lifted my head off of Rain, then glanced back, and saw Zinex still sitting there.

As if nothing had happened.

No something had happened, I was sure of it. I had to talk to Zinex, something was going on, and I hated being in the dark about anything. Especially being that Zinex was a brother in his eyes.

"Aura?" I heard Rain say, breaking me out of my thoughts once again. I turned towards her to see a worried expression on her face, as if I had gotten sick. "Are you alright…?"

Shaking my head, I made a mental note to talk to Zinex later on, maybe he knew something about what I saw. After all, the shadow had been right around him. "Ye- Yeah... I'm fine Rain" I said as I grasped her hand in reassurance. Out of everyone here, Rain would have to be the last person I would want to worry. Not just because she could be extremely frightening and threatening, but also because she could practically read me like a book; she had a way of knowing how I felt and knew what to do to have me talk.

"You sure…? You know I'm here if you need me." She replied, her voice full of worried as she squeezed my hand a bit, as if to comfort me.

"Yes, I'm sure" I said with a slight smile, hopefully convincing her enough. Which it did as she giggled and leaned her head back on my chest.

Thus, the tournament continued.

Fight after fight took place, battle after battle. I watched, I cheered, and I studied each team. I would need to know this, for it would be Zinex and I next. Who we were fighting was a mystery, but at least I could have a general idea on how to beat each team, whoever they chose to send forward.

Thus the sun began to fall towards the horizon, and today's round of fighting ended. Cypher and Yato had since made their departures, while I felt I needed to stay, to watch all of our possible opponents. Rain had stayed by my side the entire time, not once complaining. However then, my stomach began complaining, just as the final horns blew on the final round of the tournament.

"I'm really hungry." I said slightly loudly, grabbing my stomach as it growled again. I looked towards Rain, who had stood up and was stretching. Rays of light from the setting sun slammed into her in an almost perfect fashion, making her appear as if she were the most beautiful gem in all the world.

"What are you looking at?" Rain smiled playfully, as she put a hand on her hip, staring into my eyes. I blushed furiously, then averted my eyes to where Zinex had been sitting. This time, however, he didn't seem to have mysteriously disappeared. Rather, he was simply walking towards the exit just as all the other people had done. I guessed he didn't want to be a third wheel.

And I was happy about that all the same. I knew I needed to talk with him, about a lot of things, but right now I wanted nothing more than to be with Rain. I chuckled slightly, taking her hand. "N- nothing, just the gem of my world…"

"Of course, my wonderful knight." Rain giggled, knowing that would make me immediately blush. We then began walking towards the bullheads, the setting sun reflecting off the various metals in the docking bay. On our way, I suggested we take the time and go out to dinner, an formal-ish date compared to the one we took the other day; thankfully, she agreed to it.

The ride down to vale was a long one, but it felt short due to the fact that I was with Rain. Time seemed to slow down as we sat next to each other and talked about how or day was and how we were doing, even though we were with each other relatively all day. As we left the bullhead, Rain tossed a question my way that I really wasn't expecting to answer anytime soon.

"Hey, Aura…? Do you… Miss your family?" She said in a worried and cautious tone, and immediately my mood changed. Roaring emotions came flying back into my brain, emotions I hadn't felt in years.

"I… O- of course I do… I miss them badly…" I said as I heard my voice crack, feeling myself about to cry. I refused to cry though, I had to hold it back. I promise myself that I wouldn't.

But that was a promise I knew I couldn't keep.

"M- more than anything I want to see them. I want to see them, I want to hold them, I want them back in my life… But… How is that possible? I left Atlus two years ago… They could have left to look for me. There's no telling where the-"

"Aura!" Rain said as she stopped me and looked me in the eyes, seeing my tears flow down my face and my most likely blue eyes. I saw her lips quiver slightly as she looked, right before she suddenly hugged me tightly, rubbing my back as she did so. "It's okay, Aura. I'm sure that wherever they are, they're well and haven't stopped thinking about you. Just keep your head up until then, I really hate to see you this devastated. You're a good person, we'll find them together, after all this."

As much as I wanted to continue to let out my feelings, I knew feeling sorry wasn't going to change anything. Rain was right, even though we hadn't seen each other for two years, if I hadn't given up hope, they wouldn't either. I rubbed the tears out of my eyes and hugged her tightly. Just her touch poured warmth to me, and as her hand moved up and down my back, I felt the sadness leaving my body, replaced by determination. I wasn't going to give up, it was out of the question.

"You really are the best thing that has happened to me in a long time." I spoke without hesitation as I pulled away from the hug, looking directly into her eyes.

"I know my adorable fox boy." She said with that ever attractive smile, a small bit of slyness in her tone as well.

As we kept moving along, I looked around at the beautiful lights of the city. I had never had the chance to really look at the city in all its glory and beauty, mainly because I was never here for my own personal fun. This time however, I had Rain by my side, and it was as if an entirely new view of the city was unlocked before my very eyes. I looked around at all the lights, people, stores, and signs, soaking it all in.

I then heard a splash nearby. I quickly turned my head to see a little girl had tripped and fallen into a puddle on the other side of the road. I immediately let go of Rain's hand and looked both ways. It appeared at this time of night, in this part of the city, there wasn't a single bit of traffic, yet the sounds of traffic could be heard a decent distance away. I quickly crossed the street, noticing that the other side of the street was much darker.

"Are you a-alright kid…?" I began asking as I approached them, only to slow down and stop right in front of them, eyes widening as I say the black fox ears. Immediately my entire brain stopped, it was as if a miracle had happened directly before my eyes.

"I'm alright, m-mister…?!" The girl said turning around to face me, only to have her eyes dilated and her mouth open in pure shock. Right in front of me, looking right into my eyes, was my little sister Nexus. We were both caught in a moment of pure shock. It was obvious that neither of us had been prepared for this event, but yet it appeared that life truly had a sense of humor.

"Nina! Nina!" The voice cried out, as if to look for her. I turned my head to the direction of the voice to see yet another person that put a shock into my brain. A good distance away from me, calling out my little sister's name was my eldest sibling Serenity. I could tell she hadn't seen me, but as she approached us, running ever so gracefully, she finally noticed me. "Nina, where are you we need to go. We need to… A- Aura…?"

No motion was made between the three of us, none of us were sure whether to move or speak, we were in shock. Before any of us had the chance to move again, the rest of my family began appearing one by one.

And the silence the seven of us all shared was deafening.

It had been almost three years since all of us had seen each other, but the looks in all of their faces told me this could not be a dream. They had all grown up, even little Nina, and they looked just as hardened and weathered as I had been. Thoughts of the past began flowing through my head like a river. The smells of Serenity cooking a delicious meal in the kitchen. The subtle hum from Nina as she played with her toys in her little corner of the house we had shared. The playful digs Alice and I would engage in against each other. The stupid trouble Jaxson and I would find ourselves in. Isa's calm, quiet collectedness. It was all flying back to me, sinking me into emotions I hadn't felt in years. If it hadn't been for Nina suddenly grabbing my shirt sleeve and pulling it, I might have stood there for hours just locked in my own mind.

"Are you really...is that really...?" Nina questioned softly, her wide eyes staring back up to me.

That one action basically confirmed everything for me, it confirmed that this was real, that all of us were here right now. I glanced around at all of them, all of my siblings, and recognized that this in fact was happening in reality. Not wasting another second, I quickly wrapped Nina in a tight hug, pulling her up from the ground, and letting loose the tears that had been threatening to come out for minutes now.

"Aura!" Nina cried as she wrapped her arms around my neck, beginning to cry into my shoulder. Nina, the most emotional out of all of us, was of course the first to break down. Soon though, as I was crushed by the combined force of all the hugs Nina had never been able to give me, I glanced up at everyone else, and in their own way, they all showed how happy they were to see me.

"You all...I-I never thought I'd see you again." I sobbed as tears flowed out from my eyes harder, after all this time we were reunited, it was real and happening.

"Brother!" A loud booming voice said from now, behind me. Before I could even glance back, I felt a large force slam into my shoulder making me grimace in pain a bit. This was the sign that Jaxson had gotten over his state of shock.

"Jaxson, hand." I muttered, and he quickly laughed sheepishly, then removed his hand.

"It's good to see yah brother, looking a bit in shape, have you been working out?" Jaxson questioned. I turned around to see him covered in the exact same brown tunic he always wore. I chuckled to myself then sighed. His nonchalant attitude about seeing me again was very, very refreshing. I had missed his calm, drama free, demeanor.

"Ow!" I groaned as a sharp pain appeared in my right arm, I shot my gaze away from Jaxons and towards the bringer of my pain… Alice. Seeing her in what looked to be a sort of dress was odd, but it didn't distract me from the fact that she seemed to have gotten stronger since we had last met."What the heck was that for?!"

"Do you have any idea how long you were gone?! How much we missed you?!" Alice asked trying to sound furious, the hardened expression she carried still didn't distract from the fact that her eyes looked watery. I wanted to be mad at her for it, but I couldn't be, she was right to be angry with me. "You really are a jerk for not coming straight back home."

She then quickly stormed off down the street, seeming like she was mad. Before I could say another word, I felt the point of a blade touch my neck, the cold metal sent a chill down my spine. I glanced back and saw exactly why I expected, my brother Isa. What he wore appeared to be a hooded cloak of somesort, made him look almost like a rogue or assassin. How much have things changed since I've been gone?

"Seems my favorite punching bag is back for more training." He spoke in a voice that seriously did not fit the 14 year old. I smiled to him, as he dropped his small assassin knife to his side.

"Hehe, good luck trying to get the upper hand on me, little bro. I've been training a lot more since the last time we met." I said chuckling, wiping away some of the tears from my eyes.

"Not only that, you've also gotten better in dressing yourself from what it seems. Though, you still wear way too much red, it doesn't bring out your eyes as much as the blue does. You're taking away from you heterochromia by doing that." I heard Serenity say calmly, yet almost judgmentally, as I heard footsteps come closer towards the little group we had. I looked up to see her approach in a simple, yet elegant, gown. It was green in color, which accented her green eyes perfectly. She was smiling deeply at me, with not a tear in her eyes, but love flowing through them. She was never one to cry, and always seemed to be able to keep her emotions in check. She really was someone I looked up to. "And I see that you're still wearing the scarf that was given to you."

"I had to, afterall, it was from my fashion escentric sister." I spoke with a laugh, trying my best to contain the tears lodged in my eyes. Serenity smiled at me as she put a hand on Nina's head, bringing her closer to her.

"It's wonderful to see you again Aura, you've definitely grown a lot." She said softly, glancing over at everyone.

"See, I told you he was here" I heard Alice's loud voice speak to someone, as she approached, back from her storm off. I turned to where her voice had come from to see that Alice had returned with my final sibling, Marx. The look on his face was that of steel, but the small glint in his eyes was one of genuine surprise.

"About time you showed up, Aura. We've been looking for you for quite some time now." Marx said with a very slight chuckle as he looked down at me. I couldn't help but smile at this reunion I never thought I would have again. This was by far the greatest day of my life, I had finally reunited with my family after all these years, nothing could ruin thi-

"See? I told you Aura." I heard Rain chuckle, interlocking her fingers with mine as she reached my side.

I had completely forgotten Rain.

How was I going to explain to them that she was my girlfriend? How was I going to introduce them to her? How could I even explain it to them? They hated humans just as much as the humans of Atlus hated us. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was going to be an extremely hard thing to try and wrap their mind's around.

"And you are…?" I heard Alice say a large amount of venom in her voice. I had to act quickly to dissolve this situation fast before someone got hurt. I really didn't want my entire family going to war with my girlfriend.

That was not a good way of making a good first impression.

"Uh… I can explain that…" I said nervously, completely tongue tied and unsure on how to say this. Everyone turned to look at me, waiting for a response from me. I gulped nervously, and began to explain, albeit a little too quietly. "She's my girlfriend…"

"She's your what? Ya got to speak up brother, we can't hear you." Jaxson asked, leaning in closer, trying to hear me a bit better.

"I'm his girlfriend." Rain said in a confident, yet slightly challenging voice, as if she dared anyone to question her. I looked at her, my eyes wide. Did she not understand the sensitivity of this situation. No, she couldn't have understood, she hadn't grown up with the context I did. She had grown up away from all the kingdoms, she probably didn't really understand the animosity any more than Nina did.

"Is that so…" Marx questioned with a glint of anger in his eyes. I knew, out of everyone, he would be the one to not understand.

"I think this is wonderful, what was you name dear?" Serenity asked, walking towards her and looking her up and down. Rain had chosen very simple clothing today, a pair of simple blue jeans, and a normal blue shirt, with a collar that curved a bit low. She wore no earrings, bracelets, or any for of jewelry, however she did have her trident strapped across her back and her teardrop necklace. She never went anywhere without it, and this was no exception.

"Rain." She spoke confidently as she scanned the rest of my family. They were all varying degrees of wary, with Jaxson and Nina being absolutely oblivious to why this was a serious scene.

"What a beautiful name." Serenity smiled, standing in front of her and giving her a smile.

"But she's-" Alice started to say, but Serenity spun around and glared at her faster than she could even finish her sentence.

"I think it would be best to watch your mouth young lady." Serenity spoke with an urgency I hadn't expected. I was still frozen in place, and I turned my gaze to Marx, who was still looking at Rain with his typically steeled expression.

But his eyes told me a completely different story. He was not happy at all.

"I think we should get to know this young lady, before we go making judgements about who she is. Remember, one can never judge a book by its cover." Serenity spoke softly, yet somehow commandingly and she looked directly at Marx. I sensed some form of disdain between the two, something I had never seen before.

"I'm starving, why don't we all go to a diner and celebrate Aura's return, and him getting a girlfriend." Jaxson announced loudly, which broke the silence for me, it was nice hearing his upbeat and happy tone.

"Yes...then we could uh...get to meet each other again. Then I could tell you all about Rain, how we met, and...everything." I spoke loudly, trying to get a majority of the people to agree to the idea, before anyone could say it wasn't a good plan. "I have money, allowance from the school, I don't mind paying. There's this nice place me and my Team came to-"

"Your team?" Marx asked softly, his voice just as steeled as his face, which really put me off.

"Uh yeah...um." I tripped up, realizing they really didn't know anything. There was a lot I knew I had to explain.

The hardest part was going to be dad.

"That's right, Aura here runs a Team in Beacon called AYZC, kind of like Ace, but with more Z." Rain laughed a little, and Jaxson roared in laughter, immediately moving next to her.

"I like her already!" Jaxson spoke as he grinned broadly. Rain smiled at him, looking extremely happy to have met my family. Despite how I knew Marx felt, and how I was sure Alice would complain, this seemed to be going a lot better than I thought it would.

"Yes...I think I do as well. Though she requires serious training in her dressing." Serenity spoke, looking her up and down. "But that can be taught with time, Lead the way Aura."

"Okay, it's just this way." I spoke, pushing past everyone and leading them down the street, with worry filling in my mind.


	26. Golden Experiences

Aura was troubled, beyond trouble. He had slept fitfully the night before, tossing and turning, with his worries doing the same in his mind. His interaction between his family and his girlfriend hadn't gone at all like he wanted to, and it was showing in his face.

"You alright there, buddy? You look like you just went through hell and back." Zinex said patting Aura on his back, causing him to jolt up a bit. Aura glanced at Zinex with a wild look in his eyes, and Zinex stepped back a bit with a small laugh. Aura was completely drained, completely mind boggled, and simply just wanted this whole situation to be over. He really didn't want to have to deal with this before one of the biggest fights of his Hunter career.

"No… I'm not" Aura groaned as he leaned his back against the wall in frustration.

"I know that feeling man, been feeling it recently." Zinex admitted, pulling on what looked to be a chainmail shirt. This was when Aura got more confused that he was frustrated. He realized that Zinex had taken off his trench coat for the first time since he had met him, and gone was the black cargo pants he had been wearing as well. He was wearing simple black jeans, with the proper steel armor covered over it. This was definitely not Zinex's typical style.

"Where is your trench coat? Isn't that kind of necessary for your real armor?" Aura questioned as he leaned his back against one of the lockers. Zinex put his boot onto on of the benches and began making sure that his shin armor was tightened properly.

"This armor does me fine, had it fitted yesterday in the city. Plus, fighting in a trench coat isn't exactly easy." Zinex spoke as he switched legs, and began tightening the armor on his other leg. Aura simply shook his head in confusion, then sunk his face into his hands. His feelings yesterday hadn't been unfounded, it felt as if everything around him had been profoundly changed, and he was simply stuck in stagnation.

But nothing had been more stagnant then some of his family members.

"Can you believe my brother." Aura growled as he lifted his face from his hands. Zinex raised an eyebrow as he began fiddling with his chestplate and backplate combo, trying his best to make sure it was solid.

"What did he do?"

"He said he didn't like Rain, right out in the open. He came up with some stupid excuse, that she was much too loud and obnoxious, but I know what it was." Aura growled as he turned to an empty wall, and simply glared.

"Oh no he didn't." Zinex smiled softly as he picked up a pair of forearm guards, almost like gauntlets but without the actual glove part, which Aura found extremely odd.

"C'mon Zinex, I'm trying to have a serious talk with you." Aura complained as his shot a glare at Zinex.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry, please continue." He spoke glancing at him.

"Anyway, Rain immediately got up from the table and started shouting at Marx. Calling him all sorts of names. Marx did the same back, and of course my sister Alice, you remember me telling you about Alice right?"

"Naturally."

"Well Alice, being the loudmouth she is, decided she needed to get her own words in. This just made all three of them start a three way war. Serenity tried to calm things down, but no one was listening. So she just took Nina and stormed off, probably back to where they were staying." Aura sighed, rubbing his forehead as he recalled the scene. "Then of course Isa took Marx's side, as he always does. Jaxson and I just stood there, and watched as they just ripped each other apart. I guess he was waiting for me to say something, but I just couldn't."

"Is that why Rain stormed into the school last night?" Zinex asked, though his tone was not that of surprise at all.

"Exactly. Now she won't talk to me." Aura said, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, trying to calm down. "I tried to explain that I was just...ugh...I didn't know what to do. She won't respond to me though."

"I mean you really should have said something, anything really." Zinex pointed out as he then slipped out a pair of black leather gloves from his jean pockets, and slid them on. The metal of his armor wasn't extremely thick, but whatever it was made of looked to be extremely durable. At first Aura thought it had been steel, but after another look he noticed it was shimmering black ever so slightly, telling him it was made of something different.

"I know." Aura sighed, putting his hands to his temples and rubbing slowly.

"Don't worry about it so much. She'll stay mad at you for a bit, and it'll suck to feel, but after a while, she'll understand. You just have to give her a bit of time to think about it that's all." Zinex shrugged simply, which made Aura give him a sideways look.

"That was oddly mature of you." Aura spoke, and Zinex just laughed. To Aura, it seemed even Zinex had changed. These months had really made them all grow up.

"We all have to grow up sometimes, certain things have a way of pushing that along." He smiled, almost sadly. Aura slowly began to remember their conversation all those months ago, about Zinex's true origins.

"What was it like?" Aura questioned, looking into one of the lockers.

"What was what like?" Zinex asked curiously as he leaned into one of the lockers behind him, a serious look entering his face.

"Earth, you know, the place you said you were from." Aura defined, looking to Zinex. Zinex however, got a very odd look on his face, one of slight confusion but yet pain at the same time.

"Earth…" He spoke, almost in an empty tone. "I'm not really sure anymore Aura, it's been so long since I've even seen the dirt of that beautiful blue gem. You know, there are a few things we're going to have to talk about soon. I don't think now is really a good time to do so, you never know who's listening."

"Huh?" Aura spoke confused, looking around, but not seeing anyone. Cypher had been in bed before Aura had gotten home, and had been gone before he had gotten up. Yato had done the same thing, but he couldn't imagine either of them were listening in.

"It's a bit hard to explain, you have enough on your plate as of now, you really don't need anything else." He said as he grabbed a necklace that had been sitting on the outside of his clothing. Aura noticed a medallion at the end of the necklace, which looked to be made of an odd bluish metal. Aura swore that it had been glowing ever so slightly, but then again, it could have just been his eyes.

His eyes…

They seemed different, older, wiser, but yet at the same time full of pain. These were not the eyes of the friend he had once known, but of course, Aura couldn't possibly comprehend it. Something had seriously changed Zinex, but Aura just couldn't imagine what had done it. He thought back to the moments Zinex had outwardly fallen over during training before the festival. Did that have something to do with it?

"You know, photo ops cost money. I know you have some money, so stop staring, it's weird." Zinex laughed as he turned and walked out of the locker room, hearing the loud gonging noise signaling they should enter. Aura sighed and stood up. He really wasn't ready for this after all he had been through the night before.

Nonetheless, Aura pushed on towards the battlefield, trying his best to leave his problems behind. He could sort through them later.

"Welcome back audience to the most wonderful event in all of Remnant!" The announcer yelled in a booming voice as both Zinex and Aura reached the middle of the battlefield, the entire packed crowd around them began roaring and cheering. Aura, his mood beginning to rise as he realized a good part of the crowd was cheering for him, looked around at everyone. "Now that Zinex and Aura from Team AYZC from Beacon have entered the battlefield, we will now see their challengers! Enter now challengers, from Atlas Academy!"

Aura glanced over at the other side of the stadium, hearing the crowd once again roar and cheer. He then saw their two opponents enter and he knew immediately this was not going to be fun for the two of them.

The first person was a big guy, with olive colored skin, but muscles definitely bulging. He wasn't as big as Cypher was, but he was definitely still tonnes and threatening. He wore gleaming white armor, with golden trim going around its creases and edges. He was holding his helmet in his head, which followed the same color pattern, but would allow the two of them to see his face ever so slightly. Regarding his face, it looked weathered, as if he had seen a lot, despite him only looking to be about 19. He had a serious, calculating, expression on his face which made the hairs on Aura's arm rise. Aura glanced to his other hand and saw a full shield attached to his arm, however it also looked to have a pole on the inside as well… what could that be?

"Introducing Paladin and Catarina Tabbyta!" The announcer boomed and the crowd continued to cheer loudly for them. Aura glanced over towards Zinex, and noticed that his expression was one of slight worry. Aura found it odd to see Zinex in such normal looking armor, though he noticed that Zinex didn't have a helmet at all. Aura fought with the fact that maybe he should have brought armor as well, but as he glanced over towards the other person, who looked to be dwarfed in height to Paladin, he noticed she wore no armor either.

Catarina was a small girl, probably around the age of 17. She had choppy peach hair, as well as similar colored eyes. She was thin and nimble, with very pale skin implying that she didn't quite go out in the sun a lot. Oddly enough, she looked to be a faunus, which made Aura do a double take. A faunus? From Atlas Academy? Something about that didn't seem right to him, but he wasn't exactly in a position to question it any further. She was carrying what looked to be quite a large rapier at her side, looking like it was much too big for her.

"Now, we raise the battlefield once again!" The announcer boomed and the roaring machinery took over everyone's ears. On the AYZC side of the battlefield, came a forest, filled with large trees, and beautiful grass. It wasn't too dense, but dense enough to provide some cover, this was exactly what Aura had been hoping for.

On the far side, where the two members of team PYRC were, formed a large cliff stretching a decent distance in the air, looking down upon the forest.

"Well looks like they got your least favorite thing, a cliff." Aura pointed out to his team mate as he looked up at the cliff, seeing that both members of Team PYRC were up on top of the cliff.

"Tactically, I would have preferred the cliff, we're at a serious disadvantage here." Zinex said as he too was looking up at them, playing with the ring on his finger.

"I thought you hated cliffs?" Aura questioned as he glanced back to the orange stone cliff, his mind flowing with different plans they could take to reach the top.

"Who told you that?" Zinex questioned softly as he turned his eyes back down and adjusted his armor.

"Well, you did." Aura said confused, but then a loud horn blew, and this was the cue for the fight to begin. Immediately Zinex dodged into the forest, not without good reason. Aura glanced up and saw that the girl named Catarina pulled her gun up, and pointed it down towards the two of them. Aura immediately dove into the trees as well, following the shimmering dark armor that Zinex wore, then Catarina took her shot, which echoed through the battlefield

Aura was taken aback by the shooting pain coursing through his left shoulder as the bullet had caught him just as he had dashed into the forest.

"Fuck … a direct hit already?" Zinex questioned as a groan pierced Aura's ears. Another shot echoed through the forest, and as Aura reach his friend, he saw Zinex stagger to the ground wincing and grabbing his right leg as blood dripped from it.

It was as if the bullet had found the small chink in his thigh armor.

"Zinex it looks like that girl's a sniper, let's take cover behind the tree!" Aura shouted loudly as he sprinted for cover, just as another boom echoed through the forest. He glanced over at his friend and saw that he was limping towards a tree on the other side of Aura.

"Oh really she's a sniper? Wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out El Cap-i-tan" Zinex grunted as he slid down the tree, gripping his leg hard then staring at his thigh.

"Well no need to be sarcastic about it." Aura muttered as a blast of bark exploded in front of his face. He jumped back a bit and coughed. Despite knowing that the tree branches cloaked them, the woman above seemed to be able to see him. How was she doing that? "How long is it going to take you to heal?"

"About a minute till I can move, she hit me really hard." Zinex muttered as another bullet slammed into the tree Aura was standing behind. Aura bit his lip a second then heard a loud boom rattle somewhere further in the forest towards the cliff. It seemed the second challenger had made his way into the battle. Aura knew he had to act fast, and a plan quickly appeared in his head.

"I'll take the sniper, you-"

"Take the big guy, on it." Zinex said as his sword appeared in his hand. He looked at me with a serious expression, with his eyes glowing extremely brightly. He was definitely using his power to heal.

Aura then darted from tree he was standing behind, away from the main path, and instead choosing to hide behind large rocks just to avoid getting shot. The girls aim was insane, and almost every shot hit, and if it missed, it was mainly because something got in the way.

She was truly a long ranged for Aura knew he had to be wary of.

By the time Aura made it to the edge of his starting terrain he's already taken some damage, his aura had dropped by 25% and he hadn't seen his opponents since the beginning of the battle. Aura peeked around the rock that he had been hiding behind and heard what sounded like a clash of blades with Zinex and the Paladin man. As Aura looked over his rock, he saw that it wasn't looking good for Zinex. With each slash he took against Paladin, a bullet would find its way through him, temporarily crippling an arm or leg. Luckily Zinex had some sort of foresight that Aura simply couldn't comprehend, because not one bullet made it through his armor again, and he wasn't injured beyond recognition.

Using Zinex as a distraction, Aura rushed up the side of the cliff towards Catarina, who was laying at the edge of the cliff firing down at the battle occurring below, seemingly not confused at all about where Aura was. Aura, not wanting to waste a single second, blitzed Catarina with his blade at the ready, though in the blink of an eye a shot was fired at Aura's stomach sending him sprawling backwards...luckily he had pulled his aura up to defend him.

"Did you REALLY think it'd be that easy to get me? It was you Vale scum that took out team FNKY, right? Looks like we gotta stick up for Atlas… as usual. They don't have a competitive bone in their bodies." Catalina's voice seemed to be laced with both malice and glee at the same time, like the prospect of defeating anyone brought her joy.

Aura, however, felt lucky at fighting this foe. As this oddly placed monologue had given him enough time to grab his blade. He glanced forward after he had done so, and he was just in time to barely deflect a bullet fired from Catarina. For a moment, surprise gripped Aura, but then as he glanced up he saw that she was holding her sniper up, which amazed Aura.

The transformation between melee and ranged was faster than Aura could believe. Just as he noticed that, the rifle began twisting and changing faster than a blink of an eye, with an almost inaudible mechanical sound.

"Onguard"! Catalina playfully called as she struck forward. The blade of her rapier struck through the small circle that made up Aura's hilt. Aura quickly threw up his spirit in defense, his aura able to block the strike, but in a split second the gun opened quickly, and a blast slammed into Aura's stomach. He slid back faster than he could react, but before the gravity dust took him over the edge, he slammed his sword into the ground and stopped himself just as his left foot touched the edge of the cliff.

Aura then looked up, a wild look of fear in his eyes as his opponent grinned at him. He knew this wasn't going to be easy.

Then again, he wasn't the only one coming to this realization.

Boom.

An explosion rocked Zinex's entire body frame as he went flying back into a tree, slamming hard into it and splintering the wood a bit. Luckily he had decided to put armor on for this battle, but the slight grinding he could feel in his back told him his brand new armor wasn't looking so brand new anymore. He glanced back up and saw what had happened. The big guys lance had transformed into a shield at a moments notice, and judging from the smoking surface, it must have been coated in fire dust.

"Well that was certainly unexpected." Zinex muttered as he picked himself up from the ground, and summoned his pure black sword back into his hands.

"In a fight, one must learn to expect the unexpected." A voice spoke into Zinex's ear, and he simply just gritted his teeth, ignoring the voice that had seemingly come from nowhere.

"You are quick Zinex, I will give you that, but you aren't very efficient. You lack coordination with your partner, as well your fighting style is a tad rough around the edges." Paladin spoke in his extremely deep and commanding voice.

"Great, now I have two people commenting on my fighting style." Zinex grunted, with irritation deep in his voice. As he looked into Paladin's gold eyes, however, he saw that a sense of honor filled them. He knew from the moment he had started fighting that he was fighting a true warrior, and had this been another place at another time, he might have even called this person a general.

But now, Zinex could only call him an opponent, a good one at that.

"Well Juggernaut, let's see if these rough edges can cut." Zinex shrugged, a grin forming on his face. He had healed most of his minor injuries, but left the minor cuts and scrapes to avoid expending unnecessary energy. He knew this fight was going to take all of his power.

So without a second to spare Zinex shot at Paladin with his blade at the ready. A loud BANG could be heard and with it, Zinex's sword was sent clattering across the arena. Before Zinex could even turn to look at his sword, a fist slammed into his face and he stumbled back.

"The hell?" Zinex questioned as he cupped his bloody nose, raising one of his arms as Paladin tried to punch him again, but Zinex was able to defend this time. He glanced up onto the cliff and saw Aura and Catarina fighting, and he assumed that the loud bang had been from the sniper. He realized that Aura could not be doing that well, if she could easily get a shot in.

Aura threw a large downward slice onto his opponent, who easily jumped out of the way with a wide grin on her face. She seemed to be enjoying the fight, but judging from the sweat that had started to drip from Aura's forehead, he was not. He realized as her sniper transformed back into a rapier, and she pointed it forwards, smiling broadly.

"You ready to dance Foxy Loxy?" She giggled as she jumped up and twirled through the air like a ballerina and landed gracefully behind Aura. He immediately ducked, and pushed himself forward along the side of the cliff, and he was glad he had. A loud bang pierced his fox ears, and a bullet that looked to be pure red wizzed right past his ear, then slammed into the ground in front of him. He had felt the very bullet curve, and he wasn't sure how she had done it. Were there other people like him?

"I'd only dance with one person, and that person is not you." Aura said defiantly as he stood up and spun around, only to see Catarina jumping at him quickly, her sword out. He raised his sword to block, but he fell for the same trap that he had before. Catarina shoved her blade in the circle of his hilt than transformed her weapon into a sniper, then fired a shot right at his stomach, sending his careening off the side of the cliff.

"I have to think quickly." Aura muttered as he flew off the edge. It was obvious that Catarina thought this was going to be the win for her, it wasn't everyday that people could use tails to fly, but that wasn't his concern at all. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that there was no way he could beat this woman in a sword fight, and without any form of ranged weapon, he was seriously lacking in that department too. He knew for a fact that once again, Zinex was better suited for this enemy than he was, but it was too late for them to switch targets. Zinex was relying on him to defeat Catarina while he took down Paladin, and he was determined to do so.

Aura quickly spun his tails around, creating lift, then pulling himself up to level with the cliff, then hovering in midair. The look on Catarina's face was one of genuine surprise, but she quickly raised her gun up.

"Cool trick, but I need to defeat you quickly, I have appointments after this." Catarina spoke loudly, after all he was a good distance off of the cliff. Aura focused for a moment on her, more specifically her gun, then raised his left hand, his twin swords held in his right. He focused his mind, and called upon his semblance. He had done this before, and he was sure he could do this again. He felt Catarina pull the trigger before he saw it, and he knew he had to act quickly. He turned his focus to the bullet right before it left the long barrel, then put all of his force into stopping the bullet.

And with that, the bullet never reached him.

The bullet stopped just a few feet in the air in front of Aura, and he could see that it was filled to the brim with fire dust, ready to explode on impact. However, the target would not be him, but rather, his opponent. He focused all of his might into pushing the bullet forward, and then it flew forward with a serious intensity. Due to Catarina's sheer surprise, she wasn't able to avoid the speeding bullet in time, and it collided with her right leg. And explosion knocked her clean off of her feet, and sent her flying back, deeper into the cliff. Aura skipped congratulating himself and glanced at the screen. He was hovering dangerously at 30 percent aura, whereas she was nearing 40 percent.

"I'll finish this!" Aura yelled, flying himself forward then landing on the ground, rolling as exhaustion echoed through his tails. He bounced back up, only to find the barrel of Catarina's gun pointed at his chest. How had he been so careless?

"Surprising, I'll give you that, I didn't even have time to focus my aura." Catarina spoke softly, as she stood, poking his chest with her gun barrel. He noticed that she was smoking at her right leg, and it looked as if her injuries were healing. This would more likely than not, put them on equal footing, bringing them right back to square one. However, this time, Aura had a large sniper pointed directly at his chest, locked and loaded. He didn't know what to think or what to do, and he began to clam up. He couldn't fail Zinex, he couldn't. If he did, he wouldn't know how to face him.

"Use your power. You are quite strong." A female voice, very royal and commanding, said into his ear. He glanced around for a moment, but he saw no one there, but he did recognize the voice. It was the voice of the shadow that had stood next to his friend. What did she mean? How could he use his power?

"Any last words Aura Sharp?" Catarina spoke, a grin on her face. She knew she controlled the fight between them at this moment, and she also knew that she could take as much time as she wanted. Aura however, felt as if he was out of options, so he tried the one thing he had absolutely no clue how to use.

He closed his eyes then reached his mind out, and the whole world around him faded to nothingness, and darkness now filled his vision. He 'opened' his eyes, and in front of him he saw the outline of his opponent in all pink, with the gun barrel still pointed at his chest. She didn't seem to be moving however, but he somehow knew he needed to think fast. The woman had said he was amplifying his voice in this world, to the point that if anyone else could do the same thing as him, they would hear him. Amplification? Illusions? He wasn't sure what he could do, but he had nothing more to try. He reached out towards her mind, and imagined himself bigger than he had been before, three times bigger, and suddenly, his entire body swelled up, making the gun barrel now point to his knees. He still couldn't hear anything, but he could see her back up quickly. He quickly took a step forward, smashing the ground as hard as he could to her left, and she fell to the ground as if it were shaking, but he could see within this world of darkness, that nothing was moving.

He then reduced himself to his normal size, then ran around to her side. He noted that he couldn't force himself to move any faster than he normally could move. He then sliced with his sword, trying his best to make it bigger than it actually was, but failing to do so. His swing missed her, and he then saw her pull up the outline of her gun. He saw a glow inside the gun itself, and he recognized this signature red color, and reached his hand out. He willed it to explode, to do something, and oddly enough, it responded to him. He felt the explosion in his body this time, and the gun flew out of Catarina's hands, and disappeared completely from Aura's view. He saw her outline back up on the ground, moving in the direction the gun had gone.

"No!" He boomed, now hearing his own voice echo through this world. He then saw Catarina cover her ears, and he saw his chance. He rushed forward and slashed down at her, making contact with her arm, and her aura blocked it, which he could see as a soft blue glowing around her. He then saw the blue glow break completely, and he willed himself out of this world.

Then he promptly collapsed in exhaustion, not able to move a single muscle as his face hit the dirt.

"With that, Catarina is out, and it looks as if Aura has collapsed in pure exhaustion. Their fight was incredible, truly." One of the announcers said in awe as he looked down towards Aura and Catarina, who were both exhausted on the ground.

"Right, but we musnt forget, Zinex and Paladin are still fighting in the forest." The other announcer spoke as he turned towards Zinex, who was still bleeding from the nose, and trying to block strike after strike from Paladins strong arms.

"Sounds like your teammate took an L." Zinex spoke, jumping back as Paladin launched his arm in front of him once again. Paladin didn't look shaken at all however and that same calm expression stayed on his face.

"My mission is to take you out Zinex, not to worry about how my teammate is doing with your friend, from the sound of it, it doesn't appear he'll be joining out fight anyway." Paladin pointed out, and Zinex grimaced broadly. He wasn't wrong at all. Zinex glanced up at the cliff and didn't see Catarina or Aura, indicating that they were both out by this point.

"Well if that's so…" Zinex said, smiling ever so slightly as his nose stopped bleeding. He then rolled to the side as Paladin punched again, grabbing his sword off the ground, then striking forward. However, his sword simply clattered against Paladin's shield, which he had pulled out extremely quickly. He then clicked q button on the side of it, transforming it into a lance, then thrusting it forward. Zinex sucked his stomach in then turned sideways, letting the lance pass him, then slashing up with his sword. Paladin shot his elbow out, and the sword collided with the metal of Paladins armor, cutting into it slightly, and surprising Paladin as it stuck there.

Paladin tried to use the stuck sword to his advantage, but the sword disappeared before he could do anything. Zinex had turned it back to a ring, and had formed lightning over his left fist. He threw the punch directly at Paladins face, but Paladin quickly dropped his lance and smacked at Zinex's wrist, making him able to dodge the punch. Zinex grimaced then spun his body, letting loose a kick that slammed directly into Paladin's chestplate, trying to send him back. However, Paladin took this opportunity to use his semblance.

"Fuck!" Zinex yelled in pain as his foot collided with Paladin's chest plate, but as Paladin was immovable, all the force slammed into Zinex's leg. Zinex went tumbling into the grass and Paladin took the opportunity to put his fists together and slam them down into Zinex's chestplate. Zinex grunted loudly as the fists collided with his armor, but luckily for Zinex, it didn't dent at all.

"What is this armor made of?" Paladin questioned curiously as he noticed it hadn't dented.

"Maybe we can discuss it after I kick your ass." Zinex spoke, gritting his teeth together as he recognized his leg was sprained. He rolled on the ground, dodging yet another strike, then doing his best to pop back up, though he was leaning on a tree to his left.

"It seems your injured, you should learn how to control your aura a bit better." Paladin pointed out as he looked to his leg. Zinex gritted his teeth once again as he lowered the energy surrounding his skin, letting it naturally fall to where it appeared normal. He glared at Paladin as he began to understand his semblance.

"Seems you got a really interesting semblance there Paladin." Zinex pointed out, as Paladin picked his lance up, then looked towards him, narrowing his eyes.

"Surrender, and you can go to the medic and get your leg checked out, I'd rather not knock your aura to nothing." Paladin spoke honorably as he bent his body down, readying his body to run at Zinex with his lance out.

"Sorry dude, but I'll always keep fighting." Zinex spoke with a slight grin on his face as he stared Paladin down, still leaning on the tree.

"Then prepare yourself Zinex, this move will be the one to end this battle." Paladin spoke as his muscles began to tense up. Zinex however, didn't move an inch as he watched this, and Paladin then thought of him as a fool. Then, as Paladin focused he semblance, he shot forward with the speed of a moving truck, unstoppable in nature. Paladin felt himself slam into the tree Zinex had been next to, knocking it over, and he stopped. "And that is how- wait...where-"

But Zinex wasn't anywhere in front of Paladin. Paladin had felt himself slam into the tree, he knew Zinex had been standing in that specific spot, but now he was nowhere to be found. Paladin looked around, confused, but then he felt the point a sword touch the back of his head.

"Seems you did a bit of miscalculation there Juggernaut." Zinex spoke with humor in his voice, but Paladins brain was spinning. No one could have had that fast of a reaction time to dodge his run, much less to end up behind him ready to strike..

"I don't understand how you managed to do that, but it will not change anything." Paladin said ducking his head down, then shooting his leg out behind him. While his foot made contact with Zinex's shin, a bolt of electricity went through the boot Paladin was wearing, and immediately made his whole body convulse, and fall forward.

"Seems like that didn't really work out for you, now did it?" Zinex asked with a laugh as he walked around to the other side of Paladin and put his sword to Paladin's neck. "Now then big boy, I'd suggest surrendering, or you're gonna need a medic."

"I hope you understand my position, I cannot yield." Paladin spoke as he slammed his hands into the ground, and shot himself up, spinning in the air, then launching a punch directly at Zinex. Zinex's sword instantly disappeared then he rolled to the side, throwing his own punch at Paladin as he slammed into the ground. He hit him directly in the face, then followed up with an uppercut, making him stumble up. Zinex slid in quickly then began pounding at Paladins face and arms. Left. Right. Left. Right. Zinex was simply moving faster than Paladin's big body could keep up with, and eventually, his aura dropped to 10 percent, and Zinex finally stopped.

"Jeez, that hurt." Zinex spoke, breathing extremely heavily as he glanced at his fists, which had his own blood all over them, as well as a serious number of cuts and bruises. Meanwhile Paladin was breathing heavy as well, but he had a defeated look on his face as he glanced up in the crowd. His fellow students looked disappointed as the other schools cheered for Zinex and Aura, following their victory. Paladin looked to his hands for a moment, anger at himself prevalent in his mind, but then a hand entered his vision. He glanced up and saw Zinex smiling at him, which confused him.

"The fight is over, go and revel in your victory." Paladin spoke but Zinex simply started laughing, still keeping his hand out.

"No dude, the fight is over, no need for us to be enemies after the fact is there?" He said and Paladin looked at his hand for a second, thinking it to be some trap, but as Paladin took it, he felt a surge of energy filter through his body. He felt better, and his wounds didn't hurt as much as they had before.

"I suppose your right Zinex." Paladin spoke as his gold eyes stared into Zinex's lightning yellow eyes. For a moment, a sense of honor passed between the two of them, but then they both turned the other way, and didn't say anything more to each other as they walked towards their own sides of the stadium. Thus concluded the battle, with AYZC coming out victorious.


	27. Chapter 27: The Fall

Aura's PoV

I had my fists clenched as I stood in front of the door of the room that Rain has been staying at for the past few months. I was completely afraid for this confrontation, especially after what had happened just yesterday with her and my family. I was hoping for them to be at least somewhat accepting of her, seeing that they had gotten to Vale for the tournament, somehow; but to my surprise things had almost immediately fell apart within minutes.

But like both Zinex and Rain had said… I should have spoken up. It had been my fault that the dinner went the way it did, but there's no way I can change it. I had to make it up to her somehow, I didn't need Zinex to tell me that, nor anyone else. It was obvious, even to me. I sighed as I clenched my fists and looked hard at the door. I wished I could have had the joking persona that Zinex had, or the unearned confidence of Yato, or even physical traits Cypher had that I lacked. I just didn't feel like I was cut out for this type of situation, but, I had to try my best. I reached my right hand up, and made a fist, bringing it to the door and knocking three times.

"Coming…" I heard her voice call through the door, although a whole lot more drained, as if she had been sleeping this whole time. I waited a few more seconds before I heard the lock slowly start to turn, causing my heart to flutter in both nervousness and anticipation. After a bit, the door opened to reveal Rain, who looked worse for wear. She was wearing a black tank top that was sloppily thrown on, revealing a bit of her chest; and a pair of short shorts that reached slightly above the middle of her thigh. Her hair didn't look any better either, it was dull, frizzy, and going all about. She took a look at me, and started for a second with a blank expression on her face before she began to slowly close the door.

"Wait!" I cried out as I wedged my foot between the door before she could close it fully, causing pain to shoot up through my foot. She sighed and opened the door fully again, looking at me with an angry scowl as she did.

"What do you want?" She asked grumpily, causing my fox ears to fold down as I was afraid. Swallowing my fear, I took a deep breath and tried speaking again.

"I… I just wanted to see you… and talk…" I said shyly, my voice slowly losing volume as I did so; little did I know that I had set her off slightly.

"Talk…? Now you want to talk…?!" She said starting to sound angry, I was now beginning to sweat as she began to rip into me. "You could have talked back when we were having dinner with your family, but you didn't! You completely shut down and didn't say an-"

"Because I was afraid!" I cried out, stopping her in the middle of her sentence. I took deep breaths to calm myself before continuing again. "I was afraid, alright…? It had been so long since I've seen them, and I was so happy to see them. I was hoping that everything would go great at dinner, especially since all of you were important in my life; but then Marx said that he didn't like you, causing all hell to break loose. I didn't expect any of that to happen, but when it did I was completely petrified, I wasn't sure what to do at the time because I hadn't had that situation happen to me before. I may cause some tense situations and be a part of it, but when it happens straight out the blue I freeze up, and am unable to do anything about it. I'm sorry I didn't say anything back then, I was just afraid that I was going to make things worse. I want to make it up to you, please let me do that Rain."

I was out of breath and blushing from my complete emotional outburst, I felt my cheeks burning as I stared her in the eyes. She stayed silent for a few seconds before she took a step back closed the door fully. I felt my heart break after that, did she just reject and dump me? I closed, turned my back to the door, and laid flat against it, then slowly began to slide down it and sat on the floor. I felt as if my whole world came crashing down in just the last few seconds. I was just about to get up and walk away…

If her door hadn't opened up again, causing me to fall flat on my back.

I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes, only to see Rain looking down at me in her a white sundress that reached down mid-thigh, a pair of white flats, and a small white as well as seeing that her hair's fixed too. I stared for a good few seconds before it finally registered in my brain to get up and face my girlfriend again. Before I could speak again, she interrupted me.

"I know I'm probably going to regret this, but… Let's go out again. I want to see if you live up to your words" She said crouching down to pick me up. I gladly took her hand and stood up, dusting myself off. I wanted to give her a hug as thanks for giving me a chance, but I decided not to because I thought it was still too soon to do that after what happened. I grabbed her hand and began walking off with her, in an attempt to have a successful make up date.

1 Hour Later

Okay, maybe it didn't go well. After an hour or so, I can say that this date was… a disaster! We first went to the park and tried to take in the scenery… only for a faunus rights group. Seeing how that failed, I took her to one of Vale's cafes again… only to have the waiter spilled her drink and food on her, making her dress a bit… opaque; lucky she was able to remedy that using her semblance, but it was embarrassing nonetheless. Finally, we attempted to go to the fair grounds… only for the both of us to be trampled by the swarm of people leaving the bullhead. After everything that happened I had enough of this, so I picked her up bridally, and flew us both to the top of a building in Vale.

I was currently sitting over the edge of the building,reflecting on how badly this date had gone; while Rain was sitting behind me, back faced towards me.

"I'm a fool…" I said in woe as I put my head in my hands, I was doomed to fail this wasn't I?

"Huh?" Rain asked in response to what I said.

"I'm a fool!" I cried out as I layed on my back. "This whole day was a disaster, I should have said something back at the restaurant, I should have planned this better, I should have just stayed back at Beacon"

I kept on berating myself over the past two days, I was unable to do anything right. I thought Rain wanted nothing to do with me, but what happened next surprised me. She laid down next to me and rested her head on my chest.

"Shut up, you big dummy…" She said with her eyes closed as she snuggled deeper into my chest. I just stayed silent as I wrapped my arms around her and continued to look up into the sky. "I'm sorry…"

"What?" I said in confusion. What did she have to say sorry about?

"I'm sorry for ruining your reunion with your siblings…" She said as her voice slowly started to crack. She… blamed herself for what happened? But why…? "If I hadn't started an argument with your brother, none of that would have happened… And you would still b-"

I decided not to let her continue and interrupt her with a quick kiss. She instantly froze up before slowly melting into it. We held it for as long as we can, and when we separated, I looked her in the eyes.

"It's not your fault" I said firmly.

"But how, after all I-" She tried to say before I interrupted her.

"You did nothing. Well… not exactly…" I said bringing my voice down a bit. "It was all our faults… My fault for not intervening, yours for getting mad, and Marx's for being so rude. If we could have just talked it through peacefully, none of this could have happened."

After I said that, there was a brief silence between the both of us. We were both embarassed at how we were acting not only at the fact that we were being immature yesterday, but also because we were being dumb now. It ended when I felt Rain sit up.

"Now what…?" She asked as she looked down at me. I thought for a second before coming up with an admittedly crazy, yet bold idea. I just hoped it worked. I jumped up on my feet and took her hand. Hopefully I could find them.

"Now… I stand up for myself and what I believe in."

Timeskip: 3 Hours Later

"This is where they should be?" Rain asked as we walked through the Emerald Forest, Rain holding my tail as she did.

"Yes, knowing Isa… He'd want to train and get his frustrations out here" I said as I looked around the forest for them. After getting some confidence back I contacted Zinex for a little help with finding my family again. It took a bit, but Zinex had managed to find them in the Emerald Forest, at the expense of a lot of his energy. He turned in early because of this, and asked me to not have him do something like that again, to which I responded with 'No promises'. After finding their location, I gave Serenity a call, luckily Rain had managed to get her number before things went south. I let her know what I had planned, but made her promise not to say anything to anyone else.

At first she was still mad at Rain for what happened, but as I explained what happened, it seemed like she began to understand and release that hatred. She sighed and agreed to help out, wanting to actually not only to get to know Rain, but also for everyone to be happy.

I was going to make sure that things get fixed one way or another, I was done being a little kitten. After a while of searching, we were able to find them, and they were having a picnic of sorts. But what stood out the most was that there were weapons on the ground, I'll have to be careful... Taking a deep breath, I took a step forward with Rain and began my plan.

"Hey guys…" I said as I raised my hand and waved at them all. Serenity instantly smiled and kept that smile as she looked at me and Rain. Everyone else had varying results.

Nina instantly hid behind Serenity, peeking out from behind her. Jaxson was smiling, but started to slowly sweat, afraid of what was going to happen. Alice flashed a small smile, before it then became a scowl. Isa instantly got up and put his hand behind his back, probably to be ready to grab a concealed weapon. And Marx looked calm, but he was giving off a dangerous aura, it was his murderous intent.

"Hello Aura… Why is she here…?" Marx asked as he stared at Rain. I could tell she started to get afraid as her grip on my tail slowly tightened. I took a breath again and slowly began to make my way towards them.

"Look, what had happened back at the resteraunt was dumb. It could have all gone well and we all are to blame for what happened. Can we just talk and work all this out?" I asked, hoping to appeal to Marx's sensable side.

"And what good would that do? I still don't like her" He said instantly shooting down the idea, causing Rains grip to tighten slightly. "Why are you with her? After all she's a human, have you forgotten what they've done to us?"

"Hey! Not all humans are bad!" Rain said firmly as she stepped in front of me.

"Really? Then tell me… How do you think about how we even got to Vale?" Marx said asking a surprising question that I didn't even think about until now. "It's because of humans that we've had to cut costs so much in the past, we've barely gotten a chance to eat back in Atlus. We've had to scrape together what little we had to even afford a place to stay while the tournament went on here."

"So you're basing your views on one place?" Rain asked slowly starting to get angry. "If you hadn't noticed Vale isn't like Atlus. Yes, some people here are disrespectful to faunus, but most are okay with them. I'm dating your brother for crying out loud, isn't that enough to change your views?"

"Enough!" Marx yelled as he reached on the ground for what I assumed was his broadsword and slowly began unsheathing it. "I'm not going to listen to a human who claims to that others of his species aren't alike!"

"Marx…" Alice said as he dropped his scabbard on the ground. To say I was pissed was an understatement, I was furious. He was going to attempt to hurt Rain not only because she was a human, but also based on the fact that some humans were less than kind to faunus? That was unacceptable.

As soon as the scabbard hit the ground, he began to run towards the two of us, obviously to strike Rain down. Just as soon as he was close enough, I made my move.

3rd Person PoV

As soon as Marx was within a meter of Rain, he took a sidewards swing towards Rain, causing her to close her eyes in anticipation; but the blade never came. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Aura was in front of her, holding back Marx with his own weapon; not only surprising her and Marx, but the rest of his family as well.

"ENOUGH!" Aura cried in anger, his eyes turning red as he did. Before Marx could move back, Aura channeled his semblance into his blade, and swung his blade down. Marx was launched backwards back towards the family into the ground. "Do you have any idea how childish you're acting!?"

"H- how am I ac-" Marx groaned as he slowly began to lift himself from the ground, only to be interrupted by Aura.

"You're acting like she was the sole reason that we've had the life we had" Aura yelled as he looked Marx dead in the eyes. "She's suffered as much as we have, if only you'd just listen and talk about it, you would know."

"She's a human, ho-" He began, only to be interrupted again; this time by a sharp tree branch getting embedded into the ground by Aura using his semblance. Everyone looked at Aura, who not only was glowing a light blue; but his eyes were black with bright red eyeruses. This terrified everyone, since they were seeing a side of him that they didn't know.

"She lost her parents to the White Fang, you ingrate!" Aura yelled as he gritted his teeth. He refused to let this continue any longer. "Ever since she was young, she has been living in Mount Glenn, by herself all because the White Fang, faunus, decided to kill her parents; all because they were human! The same, if not worse than what humans do to us!"

No one said a thing as Aura continued to lay into them.

"The fact that you think all humans are the same prejudice faunus hating people is completely unreasonable!" He said as he slowly walked towards him. "If you were to recall, I have friends who are human, my best friend is human, even my girlfriend is human; and I will not let any of this slide!"

Aura raised his sword as if to strike Marx down, and before anyone cold stop him, he brought it down. However, he purposely made it so that it landed right by Marx's hand. The glowing on Aura's body dissipated as he stood there hunched over his brother. Everyone sighed in relief as Aura didn't kill Marx.

"I just… want everyone to get along…" Aura said as he lifted his sword from the ground and began to walk away. However, before he could, he felt someone smaller than him hugging his lower back. He turned and looked to see that Nina was hugging him.

"I'm sorry…" She said as she buried her face in his back. Aura instantly turned around and hugged him back.

"It's okay, Nina… It's okay…" He said as he rubbed her head. When he let go, he got up and continued to walk off while everyone stayed silent.

"Aura…?" Serenity said breaking the silence as he watched her brother walk further.

"Bro…?" Jaxson said as Aura began to spin his tails.

"Aura…?!" Rain asked worriedly as Aura slowly began to get lift. She ran towards him, but before she could reach him he began to fly off, leaving everyone behind.

"Aura!" Everyone cried as he continued to fly off in the distance, but he wasn't listening to them, he was listening to the voices in his head telling him to leave now.

Time Skip: Night Time

Aura's PoV

I… I'm tired… Tired of everything. Tired of my family and girlfriend fighting, tired of the White Fang, tired of Grimm. I just wish it all just would just resolve. When I got to Vale, it was night time already, and everyone was going home or still watching the finals in the coliseum. I was sitting at a bench at the park, just unsure of everything. Every call I got was ignored repeatedly as I was called multiple times throughout the night. I just wanted to be left alone.

My scroll started to ring again, making it the 187th call I got today. Sighing, I picked up my scroll and answered it.

"Hello…?" I said as I was afraid of what was going to be said.

"Aura!" I heard Rain yell in anger, causing me to flinch. Yep, this was going to be agonizing.

"Hey Rain, what's u-" I began to say only to not only be interrupted by a mad Rain, but hearing what sounded like Nina laughing. This caused me to brighten up slightly as I listened.

"Where are you, we're all worried sick!" Rain yelled as I got up from the bench. "When you went off like that we all freaked out! Do you have any idea how that left us? We couldn't even relax."

"But yo-" I said only to get cut off again.

"I'm not finished!" Rain said before taking a deep breath and actually calming down. "Well… your plan worked… somewhat. We talked about it and agreed to get along, even if some of us don't want to…"

"Wait, you're all getting along?" I asked genuinely surprised, they were actually getting along now?

"Yes. We are, we actually are" She said chuckling a little at the thought of it all. "Now could you please stop hiding and come meet us over where we are? We're in the main plaza of Vale."

"A- all right, be right over!" I said as I happily hung up my scroll and began running towards where they were.

And then the worst possible thing happened.

I heard a loud explosion, one like I had never heard before. It had come from the direction of the floating coliseum, and I immediately understood why. As if from nowhere, a few Nevermore's landed on top of the coliseum and broke through the top, and immediately the warning sirens went off.

"What the hell!" I yelled in confusion, but I didn't have much more time to question anything at all, as a Beowolf jumped out in front of me, growling extremely loudly. I quickly summed Mythrid Truths, and slashed at it hard, cutting right through its head and making it dissipate into nothingness. I quickly pulled out my scroll, and called Rain.

"Aura! Thank the gods your safe!" I heard her yell over scream around her. "The city is under invasion, there's Grimm absolutely everywhere, and white fang members are also attacking."

"How could this have happened?!" I yelled back as a number of people came swarming around me, screaming about an attack.

"We don't know! Someone rigged all of this though. I've heard everything is under attack!" Rain yelled, and from the background I saw my family fighting Grimm around her, keeping her protected, as well as other innocent people as best as they could. "Aura we need you here now, and if you can contact the rest of AYZC, we need to make sure the people are being kept safe!"

"Right, you call Celestia!" I yelled back and quickly hung up, immediately placing a call to Zinex. I watched it ring, then ring again, until it simply dropped. I cursed to myself, then tried Yato, but he too didn't answer. I then tried Cypher, but it seemed his scroll wasn't even on.

I was completely alone.

I kept running however, pushing closer and closer to Rain and my family, there was no way I was going to let them fall, even if I didn't know where my friends were. I fought my way through the crowds, through the incoming Grimm, and everything in between. Eventually I made it into the main plaza, and into an engaging war between Grimm and my family and girlfriend.

"Rain!" I yelled to my girlfriend as she sliced the head off of a Beowolf angrily. She turned towards me and smiled, happy to see me.

"Aura! Come on and help us, we're pushing them back!" She yelled at me and I grinned softly, happy to see her alive and well. I seperated Mythrid Truths into two blades then ran forward towards the line of Ursas and Beowolfs.

We fought for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. Grimm after Grimm fell before us, as Rain and I were the perfect team and even my family saw that. We were connected in a way that no one could possibly separate, not even my family, and even they had to see that.

And then the Grimm stopped coming into the plaza, and for once, we were safe. I was breathing heavy, and she was too, but as we made eye contact we both understood each other. We were meant for each other, as if the universe had put us together itself. I looked over to Rain and she smiled at me, and I smiled back. At that moment she was the only thing that I could really see, the only thing I was really thinking about.

And then I was thrusted out of my thoughts by a loud roaring sound. I looked up to see a grimm that I had never seen before flying overhead, excreting some black substance as it soared. I immediately had a bad feeling, as the drips of black substance fell to the ground around us, they started to take shape into even more grimm after a few seconds.

I began running toward one in an attempt to protect everyone, only to be blind sidded by something large striking me in the abdomen, launching me into a wooden stand. Pain filled my body and my ears immediately started ringing as I lifted myself out of the debrs. I then saw that Rain and my family surrounded by grimm once again, looking as if they were being backed into a corner. I began to reach for my weapon, only to see that it wasn't by my side, in fact, it wasn't anywhere to be seen.

I looked back to everyone in a panic. They were going to die, I was going to lose everyone I loved and cared about. I was going to be alone again… Thinking about this, my mind went blank, and I could feel my semblance begin to activate…

3rd Person PoV

Rain and Aura's family witnessed Aura getting knocked away like a rag-doll, but before they could help him more grimm spawned preventing them from getting to him.

"Aura!" Marx groaned as he held back an alpha beowolf that was about to lunge at Nina, who then backed him up by using her semblance, which was shooting a needle-like form of energy from the palm of her hands. This was all she could do at the moment, because she couldn't get a weapon yet.

"We need to get to him!" Serenity yelled as she slammed a creep into a boarbatusk using her weapon, a whip that could channel dust throughout it. She continued to whip about before a nevermore the size of a vehicle darted towards her; she turned towards it in time to see it getting hacked in pieces by Isa and his pair of long daggers, amongst a few other weapons.

"A little easier said than done, sis!" Isa said as he threw some throwing knives into a few more grimm, before dashing off to cover everyone else.

"Come on! There has to be some way to-" Rain began, only to have grimm get launched pass her at a high speed, smacking it into a wall causing it to instantly disintegrate. After that, debris exploded all around them, knocking into grimm, killing them within seconds. Everyone wondered what had happened to have caused the explosion, but they soon got their answer when they looked back towards Aura. Rain's eyes quickly widened in fear at what she saw.

Aura was floating off the ground as various debris orbited around him. His eyes were blank and whited out and his mouth hung agape. Not only that, everyone could tell his semblance was running as powerful as it could possibly be, just by the brightness generated by him alone. Aura's semblance was going haywire, evidenced by the fact that bits and pieces of the surrounding buildings and ground were detaching and joining the other debris in orbit around Aura.

Everyone stood in shock, completely immobilized in fear of what was becoming of their loved one. Everything looked as if it were swirling around him like a black hole, moving closer and closer as he lifted his arms up.

"Abominations!" Aura screamed at the top of his lungs as he pulled his arms back and flung them out at the Grimm that were running towards him angrily. The rocks, similar to meteors from the sky, slammed into the grimm at high speeds, instantly killing them, and saving both Aura's family and his girlfriend.

They however, were not exactly quick to say their thanks.

They looked to their loved one and saw that he was still in the state of being controlled by his own semblance. This was something they had simply never seen before, something they couldn't quite comprehend.

"Aura! What's going on with you!" Rain yelled, holding her weapon up as Aura's family stood behind her. He looked over to them, but the white still had taken over his eyes, and his mouth still hung open, as if he wasn't even there at all. "Aura please!"

"Calm down, young one." A voice came from Aura's throat, but it was not that of Aura. It was a deep, yet powerful voice, one full of royalty and bravado.

"W-who are you?" Rain asked taking a step back but assuming a fighting stance. Aura's family followed suit with their various weapons and semblances.

"That is hard to explain young ones. Know that I am but a friend of all of you and an enemy to the darkness." The voice spoke once again, and suddenly Aura's body turned to the side. "It seems that serious things have happened under our noses, I sense a great and powerful darkness at play here… well perhaps more than one."

"More than… one?" Rain questioned and with Aura's head, the voice nodded.

"It does appear to be so. I fear this battle will not end well at all." The voice said as an extremely loud shriek boomed across the entire city, coming from Beacon tower.

"What is that giant thing?" Rain asked, calming down slightly.

"Beings of darkness, plaguing this world." The voice spoke then turned towards Rain. "You're companion does not have enough energy to support me for very long as of yet, I will not be able to hold on for much longer. Know this, your enemy is more than one. Things from this point are more serious than they have ever been. Fate dictates there will be much loss and departure. However, you must all stay vigilant and aware, or you will certainly perish."

"Wait what does-" Rain started to ask, but then the white faded from Aura's eyes and he quickly fell to the ground. "Aura!"

There was a quiet groaning coming from said person as he slowly lifted himself off the ground. He looked up and around in a daze, until his eyes focused and fell upon his girlfriend, who looked like she was about to cry.

"Why are you…" Aura started to ask, but Rain quickly ran towards him and wrapped him up in a huge hug, still crying her eyes out.

"A voice, from within you told us horrible things were going to happen, that we were going to fail here." Rain said as she held Aura tight, as if he were going to disappear. She didn't have a good feeling at all about any of this.

"It didn't come from within Rain...it was like it came from outside…" Aura said weakly as he turned towards Beacon in the distance. "But something horrible is happening. Something…"

"Aura!" Rain yelled as she watched the love of her life slip into unconsciousness. He wasn't dead, but simply out of energy, he had seriously pushed his semblance too far.

"We have to go now." Marx said to Rain's right, though all she could focus on was Aura. "The Grimm are closing in like a swarm of flies. We can't hold them here."

And thus Rain and Aura, and all of Aura's family Departed the immediate scene. Off to fight for their own place of the falling City, and to get Aura the help he needed.


	28. Chapter 28: The Pretender

(Zinex pov)

Tearing metal, a sound more horrible than any other sound in the entire world, at least to my ears. I had seen buildings crumble with this horrid noise, sword blasted into nothingness with this horrid noise.

But this time, it was more shocking than it had before.

For this was the death of the android girl named Penny.

That terrible, horrible, grinding noise filled the quiet stadium, and I could do nothing but watch as it happened, almost in slow motion. Sparks began flashing from rips and tears in the poor android girl's body, and my heart immediately dropped as I watched her now lifeless body tumble to the ground. Just as the entire crowd, I was stunned into silence, even the announcers had been stunned into silence.

This tournament was not supposed to be one of death, but yet that's exactly what had just occurred.

Then as the crowd began to regain their wits, screams echoed through the battlefield, through the whole stadium, but I was not one of these screams. Rather I looked to Pyrrah, whose face was contorted in a mixture of surprise and absolute horror at what her semblance had seemingly done. Then, after a few moments, a black chess piece on a black background, glitched upon the huge television screens of the tournament.

"This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident." A voice I didn't recognize spoke in a coy way, as if mocking the crowd. I looked around as best as I could, but saw no one. "This is what happens when you hand over your trust, safety, your children to the men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our academies headmasters wield more power than most armies and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army mercilessly torn apart by another star pupil. What need would Atlas have for soldiers disguise as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."

The crowd then, was absolutely silent, in complete disbelief and fear of what was going on. I wanted to do something, anything, but my mind was absolutely blank. I pulled my scroll up, only to find that the network was completely down. This was an invasion alright, this had been planned extensively.

"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntress's should carry themselves with honor and mercy. Yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin thought defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps, this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong but I know the existence of peace is fragile and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with Iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is...equally undesirable. Our kingdoms are on the brink of war. Yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark." The feminine voice went on with her speech. This was practiced, no doubt, over and over.

I glanced around at everyone, quickly summoning my sword into my hands and standing up. Luckily I had decided not to change out of my armor. I jumped down to the main platform, where Penny lie gone, and Pyrrah stood absolutely lost in guilt. I had a bad feeling that something seriously terrifying was about to happen.

"So I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?" The voice finished, then the feed from the Televisions cut to nothing but static, and her speech was done. Then the siren sounded, alerting the entire crowd that the Grimm were coming.

That must have been their plan, the Grimm could smell fear from miles away, and a crowd of thousands with all that fear built up must have been like a beacon to them. Of course, much like all crowds, this created a level of panic I had never seen before on Remnant. Everyone began running out of the stadium and I silently thanked myself for jumping down before the panic started. I glanced up and saw that a Nevermore had dropped onto the top of the stadium, smashing against the thin forcefield that promised to protect us all.

"Great, that's going to break any second now." I muttered as I continued to look up. That thing looked bigger, and even more aggressive than the one I had fought away from Jack, and the severity of the situation I was in seriously shook me to my core. I glanced at the last of the people that were running away from this terrible situation, and saw how purely innocent that they were.

This wasn't their fight.

I knew I had to protect them to the best of my ability, that was the promise I made to myself, but as I glanced over towards the other side of the battlefield I saw Pyrrah still locked in pure horror as she looked at Penny.

"Leave them, they will be fine." A somewhat urgent female voice said to my left. I glanced over as saw Noris, the woman who had been plaguing my mind for a year or so I have been on Remnant. She had long black hair, that went down to her lower back, piercing black eyes, with rings of golden red color around the edges of her irises. She had an athletic body build, and wore a set of black and red royal armor, with a sword blacker than darkness in her hands. The sword seemed to pull in the very light around it, and gave me a cold feeling down my spine. I glance to her face as she stared off at the others on the other side of the battlefield, which was comprised of only Team JNPR. Her regal features, combined with her pale white skin, made it odd to see her contorted in slight anger.

"Are you kidding me? A Nevermore is about to crash through the ceiling, and you think they'll be fine?" I questioned angrily, and she simply sighed.

"Don't be stupid Alexander, that savior brain of yours doesn't know when other people can handle things. They are quite alright, one could see that if they simply took a moment to think about who their talking about." Noris spoke in a regal sort of tone, dismissing my objections almost instantly.

"Easy for you to say." I muttered in irritation as I looked at them, but then Noris's large sword found its way to my throat, and I could feel it as if it were there, which was definitely not supposed to be possible.

"I will cut you down right now if you don't help those people who need it, Team JNPR is a fine fighting team, they have trained for this, the people in those stands haven't. Stop focusing on your friends for once and focus on the people who need help." She said coldly, but I couldn't exactly argue with her… my focus had been a bit skewed.

"Fine." I grunted, then quickly turned around, running with the innocents towards a loading bay in which I assumed they would be picked up. I glanced to my left once again and saw that this time, Noris hadn't disappeared, in fact she seemed to be scanning the crowd in the way that she did when she was creating various battle tactics in her head. "You haven't gone and disappeared yet? I'm surprised. I thought my brain would have gotten rid of you when it gave me the push I needed."

She then scoffed as we ran, as if I was being ridiculous. "You are ignorant sometimes Zeno. I have a vision you will get yourself killed if I do not help you with this."

"How could you possibly help me, you're a figment of my imagination. A memory." I muttered as I followed the crowd, trying my best not to appear to them as insane. Noris simply laughed a little, the way she usually got when she had something over me. It was an age old game with her, we had spent a long time we were alive trying to find out things the other didn't and get points over the other.

But this time, she had really come into the lead.

When we reached the loading Bay, I saw what she had meant by these people needed my help. Grimm of various types, Ursa, Beowulf's, and the Boars I had since forgotten the name of. I immediately went into battle mode, but didn't bother to draw up my fake aura, that would only be a waste of electricity, which was going to be precious in a situation such as this.

"Foul Creature." I heard Noris growl as an Ursa came rushing up to her, standing in it's two legs and roaring. It was about three or four times bigger than her, but she simply stated it down. Then she did something I didn't quite understand at first.

She slashed at it with her sword and it was instantly gutted, disappearing into pure dust in the sky. I looked at her wide eyes, and she turned around, examining her blade curiously.

"What an interesting creature, it bleeds not. I do not quite understand the nature of this world I presume." Noris spoke then looked up at me, noticing my surprise, and smiling ever so slightly. Her teeth were slightly fanged, which was odd. My mind had never added that much detail to her form before

"Wait but how are you-" I questioned confused, and she started laughing wholeheartedly.

"It would appear that even at the end of one's journey, one still has much to learn." She said in a cryptic tone she was fond of. I was in too much surprise to be angry though. She was actually in front of me, this was a physical form, which was absolutely impossible.

"You-you're supposed to be dead! How the hell are you here?" I asked her in utter surprise, ignoring the world around me.

"Methinks you would be better off killing the werewolf behind you, rather than continuing to ask me questions about my state of physical presence." She spoke regally, as she glanced behind me. I quickly spun around, and raised my sword, only to have the Beowulf's claws slam into my blade, with one of its claws digging into my hand. I grunted in pain and quickly slammed my boot into it's leg, causing it to howl in pain. I draw my other fist back, drawing lightning around it, then slammed it into the Beowulf's arm. It immediately roared in pain, releasing it's clawed hand from my sword. I then spun, slashing at its arms and legs, then delivering a find piercing blow to where I assumed it's heart was.

With that it was dead, yet my right hand was still bleeding. However, despite the two Grimm we had taken out, more remained in this loading bay. Grimm seemed to be coming in from bullheads, loaded in like zoo animals, and released to cause the most amount of havoc possible. I couldn't identify just who was driving these Grimm to the tournament area, but that didn't matter at this point, what mattered was getting rid of them.

"Alright, I don't know how the hell you got here, or how you came back from the dead, but would you mind, for once in our lives, fighting on the same side and killing these creatures?" I asked as the wound in my right hand began to close slowly, I was holding my sword in my left hand as I let my other hand heal. I heard Noris laugh a purely joyous laugh to my left.

"Why I thought you would never ask Zeno." She spoke in a coy voice, jumping forward towards a line of Ursa that would have scared any normal person.

Then again, Noris wasn't exactly a normal person.

"Right, Zeno, Right, you always forget to guard your right." Noris yelled as the Ursa's slashed at my right guard, nearly taking my arm out. I rolled out of the way of the claws, and quickly slashed up with a clap of lightning to deal extra damage. That was one Ursa neutralized. Then I slashed behind me in an arcing move and made quick work of the one that had thought it was sneaky but coming up behind me. It didn't stand a chance against my blade and my speed. With reach of my hand, while it was stunned, I fired off a bolt of lightning, and turned it into absolute nothingness. Fighting side by side with Noris feel like the good old days, and almost made me feel like I did back then.

"Yeah, Yeah, whatever." I laughed as I quickly turned my sword back into a ring and vaulted over one of the right ursa's claws, summoning lightning around my fist then landing behind the Ursa, punishing it square in the back, letting out a loud boom. The Ursa melted into nothingness and I saw Noris tapping her black sword on the ground, with her hand on her hip, looking slightly disappointed. "What?"

"Don't what me. I know I taught you better than that." Noris chided and I simply sighed.

"If you remember correct, our training got a bit cut off when you tried to kill me." I said, shaking my head and looking around the rest of the bay area. It seemed some soldiers for Atlas had landed, and we're rounding up the students that were trying their best to hide.

"No, it was Jordan who made an attempt on your life that time." Noris pointed out.

"Well weren't you his queen around that time? Isn't it the fault of the joint rulers of the Darkling Empire?" I questioned with a grin as more ships began to pull up, this time, white fang members jumping out onto the bay, with guns of their own.

"Let it lie for now Zeno, we have more pressing matters. You must get to the school to ensure the safety of these people. I will stay behind and deal with these petty warriors." She ordered, in her normal regal voice.

Not going to lie, I felt a bit hurt that she wanted to send me away so quickly after I had just had a reunion with her.

"But Noris I-" I started to protest, but she quickly turned and shot me a glare. She knew exactly what I was going to say naturally, we had known each other for a very long time by this point. Counting the time she had spent dead.

"Alexander Zeno, you have a much more important task to attend to that spending all day dilly dallying around fighting and talking with me. We will have much more time to chat-" She spoke, turning around and slicing a bullet right out of the air, retaliating with a knife she had seemingly pulled from nowhere. The White Fang member who had fired the bullet at her, was thus no more. "After you have secured the school."

"Yes my _queen_." I said sarcastically, and her eyes narrowed once again into a glare. It seemed no one could resist my charms. I laughed then glanced around the bay, seeing an empty bullhead. I assumed it must have been one of the soldiers who had left it here, but I was sure they wouldn't mind me borrowing it for a little bit of time. After all, it was for a noble purpose.

With that I was on my way back to Beacon, where the center of this hellish battle was located.

Cypher's POV

"To Vale! Now!" Ozpin yelled in his office towards Glynda and Qrow, who had run in mere moments after I had run in. Invasion did that to people.

"But-" Qrow tried to say but Ozpin turned around from the window he was watching out of with a glare on his face.

"Now! Quickly!" He yelled, and I immediately turned and began to follow Qrow and Glynda. This would be the perfect opportunity to make sure that my friends were okay, they were the ones I was worried about the most, above all others. That might sound sort of rude out loud, but loyalty is what mattered to me, and they were the most loyal people I had ever known.

"Not you Cypher, I need you to stay here." Ozpin quickly said, dashing my hopes of being able to check on my friends. I watched longingly as both Qrow and Glynda glanced back, worry deep in their faces.

"Where was your team?" Qrow asked quickly.

"Aura was in Vale, Zinex was at the stadium, and Yato...I think...well I don't know." I spoke, realizing that I hadn't bothered to ask Yato where he was going, he looked grim and urgency had filled his face earlier in the morning. I assumed that he was going off to Yang, but then again, I couldn't be sure.

"We'll keep our eyes out for them, they are strong, they will survive. We'll let them know your safe." Glynda said and I nodded my head. They quickly raced off and I turned back to Ozpin, both of my boomerangs now out and ready for anything.

"How did this happen?" Ozpin questioned angrily. The whole speech must have infuriated him greatly.

"It looks like someone broke into the uh...computers." I said, pointing out what he didn't seem to understand.

"Yes I'm well aware of what they have done." Ozpin spoke, which surprised me a bit. Why ask a question if you already knew the answer? "The security on the system should not have been fooled so easily by some ragtag group of white fang members nor anyone else."

"Well that's not true, Zinex had his scroll hacked, that's how he tricked the White Fang back in the warehouse where that weird mind lady trapped us. They were tracking his scroll and he planted it on Aura, at least that's how he explained it to me." I shrugged. I didn't really understand why Zinex had gone through all the trouble to begin with, but after it had happened, I was thankful he had.

"What?" He questioned, obviously not hearing me. I opened my mouth to say what I had said again, but he held his hand up. "No, no I understand, I'm just in surprise that's all. Do you remember my tale of the maidens, and my explanation of what they each possess?"

"Of course, you explained it a few times remember?" I questioned and he nodded his head, then glanced back to the window of Beacon Tower.

"Right and would you repeat to me what the spring maiden possess in terms of their abilities." Ozpin spoke as he leaned against his cane.

"Well you said storms, winds, levitation, and fire." I shrugged, not really remembering the long and bland explanation he had given.

"Precisely, fire." Ozpin spoke, turning back around and looking at me with a twinkle in his eye. "That's where you will come into this picture. You see the powers of the Spring Maiden were split into two, due to circumstances you needn't know. One half lies with a woman who seems to have taken a liking to its fire abilities, and has been using them to gain a foothold in the kingdoms. In fact the very voice you hear, I presume, is her. She is destabilizing the kingdoms, but I'm sure you can stop her."

"Consider it done." I said raising my weapons and smiling broadly. I loved a good fight, as well as this was for my friends. I knew that this lady was bad news, Ozpin had just said so, and if she had organized this whole thing to hurt people, then it was my duty as a huntsmen to do so.

"You're bravery is remarkable, fine, let's go." Ozpin said, walking towards his office door, with me following along. We then began walking down the long stairway, the elevator seeming to be completely knocked out. "Now you must understand, this woman will not be like the Grimm you've faced, or even the other humans you've faced. The blessing of the maiden would take ages to explain to someone. You need to be vigilant, remember your training with Qrow and your brother, it will guide you through this task."

"No need to worry Oz, I got this in the bag, remember if she tries to hit me. Man's not hot." I said with a grin on my face. Yato wasn't the only one who could make up a name for himself.

"I certainly hope so, for this will be a fight for history itself." Ozpin said gravely. Despite what he had thought however, we had met no resistance for most of the way through the school, though it had taken much, much too long to get anywhere at all. We had finally gotten to the main level of the school, when it became clear it had been the White Fang who had launched this attack.

However, it was then that the whole world shook and with it, a huge screech like I had never heard before.

"What was-" Ozpin question softly, but looking out of the window gave us our clue. Coming from the horizon, was a Grim the size of a mythical dragon. It's huge wings were flapping in the distance as it looked to be dropped black ooze on the city of Vale. "Come Cypher, we must-"

"Move!" I yelled quickly as I pushed Ozpin down the particular stair way we were in. The rumble of the world had loosened the materials in the stone of the building, and with all the other hits the Grimm and White Fang had dealt, this particular place had been already weak. With that, the above stairway tumbled down towards where we had been standing. Rock, more than I could possibly believe dropped between both Ozpin and I, and cut us off from each other.

Which meant I was utterly alone, but not without knowing where I needed to go. I quickly looked towards the window we had been looking out of as the world shook once again, it was only two stories down, I could make it easily. I broke the glass with my boomerangs, and jumped up onto the windowsill, looking down. Again the world shook and I heard the loud rush of wind slam into the area around me. I quickly jumped to the ground, doing my best to roll and avoid getting injured. I managed to accomplish my goal, and though I had a few cuts and scrapes from the thorny bushes I had landed in, everything was going perfectly to plan.

"Now, to save my friends, and hopefully everyone else too." I spoke, making sure my boomerangs were out, and filling them with ice dust this time. Fire and Ice...a combination better than any other I could think of. I ran forward, hoping to get to the front of the building as fast as possible, being that I was on the right side of the large school. I ran for what felt like an eternity, and during that time I heard the loud sounds of Grimm roaring everywhere, along with gunshots and screaming. Something serious was going on in the front of the school.

"There you are." I heard a voice say from my side. I immediately stopped walking and saw one of the very people I was looking for. Yato. Immediately my spirits rose, but it looked as if Yato's had not. He looked almost dead in the eye, as well as he was holding his left arm, which seemed to be bleeding.

"Yato! Are you okay? What happened?" I questioned seriously, for some reason a sinking feeling entering my gut. He pushed himself up off of the wall, and shot a look my way, his eyes burning with some emotion I simply couldn't understand.

"Quite alright big guy, say, where are you headed?" Yato asked cooly, as he got a few feet from me.

"Back to Ozpin, he said I was a key factor in defeating the invasion, I guess their leader uses fire or something, making me invulnerable to her attacks." I explained, not thinking to keep anything from my longtime teammate and friend. Yato nodded, then laughed ever so slightly.

"I guess this is it then huh?" He said softly, I glanced at him, completely confused. I saw something build in his eyes… a hate… a rage. "Time to fulfil my destiny Cypher, sorry it's going to take your life to do it."

Then he drew the cursed sword he said he would never think to use.


	29. Chapter 29: Devouring Darkness

Cypher's POV

"W-What are you doing Yato?" I questioned, absolutely confused. There was no one around us, no enemies at all, why was he was acting the way he was? We were friends after all, what did he mean by taking my life?

"Sometimes I wish I could be as ignorant as you Cypher, I bet it's its a better life huh? To not have to worry about anything, to not have to understand the sheer problems this world has." Yato spoke, almost sadly. He lifted his sword up and looked at it deeply. "But you really won't have to worry that much anymore. I've heard that death is truly an escape, but all I know is that you have to go. You're too powerful to be kept alive."

"W-we're friends though." I insisted to him, perhaps he had forgotten who I was. "Remember, it's me, Cypher Ignis. We've been friends for about a year!"

"I'm almost going to regret this." Yato spoke, then rushed forward with his sword, slicing the huge sword upward. I quickly jumped back, dodging the sword, but not daring to attack back. I wasn't sure what had gotten into him, but I knew that I had to snap him out of it. That it what friends do.

"Yato! Please snap out of this." I pleaded, dodging yet another sword slice.

"Snap out of what? You idiot, do you not get it? There is nothing to snap out of." Yato growled as she slashed to the side slowly, making me able to dodge extremely easily.

"This isn't you Yato, you wouldn't try to kill me!" I shouted, getting extremely emotional by this point.

"Just stay still and accept fate!" Yato boomed, as the sword lit up with a sort of red energy. The red energy seemed to tear at the very air, making everything look like it was distorting around it.

"No! I won't let you do this!" I yelled back at him and shot forward, tackling him against the wall. He was surprised I had been so quick to attack, but being that I was much bigger than him, I knocked him clean off of his feet, and into the wall. I heard a crack, and assumed it might of been his bones, but as I glanced at the wall of the school, I saw that the very stone had cracked. I knew Yato was more durable than that.

"You insolent-" He growled, throwing his left fist into my head, but I grabbed his wrist right out of the air and slammed his arm into the wall. He tried to move his other arm to slash at me with that cursed blade but I shoved my shoulder into his, unfortunately he had put his aura up and my shoulder was stopped. He slammed the hilt into my back, not able to get a full swing with his sword with my arm in the way, and I was able to grip his left wrist harder, move to the side and throw him clean off of the ground, towards the mountains that lie in the distance.

"Why!? Why do you make me do this?!" I yelled as he tumbled onto the ground, oddly not letting go of that weird red sword.

"It must be done." I heard him groan as he stood up. He was injured at all, and I knew he wouldn't be, Yato had a strong aura.

"Why!?" I pleased with him as I drew my boomerangs again. I lifted my hands, and pointed the my guns directly at him. "Please don't make me do this, I don't want to hurt you."

"Than that is your undoing Cypher." Yato growled in a language that didn't really suit him. He slashed down with the sword and a wave of red energy came screaming at me. I rolled off to the right side and pulled the trigger on my pistols. Pellets of ice came flying out, racing towards Yato, but he quickly guarded with the sword. I watched in amazement as the red energy around the sword kept out and smacked the dust directly out of the air. Whatever power that sword had, it was extremely dangerous.

"Why!? We're friends Yato. AYZC! Don't you remember all the times we shared?" I pleased with him, but it just seemed to make him angrier. He ran forward quickly, slashing at me with his sword. I raised my boomerang to defend, but then a tearing sound pierced my ears. The sword cut right through the boomerang in my left hand, tearing it in half. Then, in the very next moment, ice exploded over the both of us, sending us flying back. I slammed into the school wall, and went right through it.

For a moment I was dazed, and absolutely freezing cold, and as I got up I noticed where I was. It was one of the classes we had shared together, but it was dark and empty, with absolutely no one close. I stood up, shaking, as ice covered half of my face. I reached my hands up, and fire sprang out onto my face, slowly melting the ice.

Ice dust was always more durable than normal ice, so it took a good amount of time and energy to heal.

"You are just as incompentant at fighting as when we got here, you let one of your weapons get destroyed? You call yourself a huntsmen? Pathetic." I heard Yato's voice come from the large hole I had created in the wall. I shot a glance over and saw him staring at me menacingly. His eyes were now glowing the same color as the sword he held, and in the darkness, goosebumps filled my skin.

"I'm not incompentant!" I yelled back at him, anger rising within me. Why couldn't he just see what he was doing? Was he blind?

"Really now?" Yato spoke, jumping down into the classroom. He looked almost gleeful now. "Is that why you were the only one in the whole tournament to get knocked out? Of course, it was planned that you would lose, but you failed even worse than we could have ever planned."

"P-planned?" I questioned, horror now entering my mind. Was it possible that… he was the spy Zinex had mentioned?

"That's right Cypher, your tiny brain is finally getting it." Yato said as he absentmindedly slashed a desk in half, as if it were butter. "All this time, you all were too damn stupid to figure it out? Well, I suppose Zinex came close, but he couldn't prove anything. Especially when I kept him busy with Aura, he didn't have time to investigate things after the warehouse."

"Wait, are you saying you-"

"We're the one who led us into that trap? Of course I was you daft fool. Of course, Zinex being the mysterious man he is, he led us on a bit of a goose chase, but with my self sacrifice, he seemed to have chalked it up to a spy in the school. He couldn't possibly imagine that one of his own team members would be behind it, in fact you all were too stupid to see." Yato laughed, then cut another desk as he got closer to me. I was simply frozen in shock by that point. Something about Yato seemed different, like he was a completely different person.

"B-B-But Yang! What about Yang?! You love her!" I yelled in defiance, not wanting to believe what he was telling me. No, I couldn't believe what Yato was telling me. This wasn't him, this couldn't be.

"Ah, Yang Xiao Long." Yato smiled softly as he paused his stride. Then he opened his eyes with a fury I hadn't seen before. "An outright brat in the midst of my plan!"

Then he raced forward with a speed he hadn't used before. I lifted my boomerang and fired off as many shots of ice dust as I could, but he seemed to be able to knock each one out of the air.

"No stop!" I yelled as he went to piercing his sword into my stomach, but he did not stop. Yato was not Yato, this horrible thing was no real, it couldn't be. However, despite my thoughts, my eyes were not lying to me. I tried my best to grab at his wrist, to stop his blade before it touched me, but I simply wasn't prepared for this. His sword slid into my stomach with a pain so unbearable I couldn't even comprehend it.

"It is done." I heard Yato say in a smug and angry tone in my ear. He pushed the blade deeper into my stomach, piercing out of my back with ease as my very veins burned in pain. I tired to summon fire as I grabbed at his wrist, but nothing came out. I was beaten in that moment and I knew it. Tears began to stream out of my eyes, and even those burned. I had never felt this sensation of burning before, but I knew that this had to be it.

"How does it feel Cypher? Do you feel your death approaching?" Yato asked, but he felt far away, like someone at the end of the hall was yelling towards me. My vision began to get fuzzy, and even this new burning sensation started to numb away. Was this death? Were these my final moments of being alive? If that was true, why did it feel so peaceful? I had lost a friend, he had tried… well succeeded I think in killing me. I had always thought that death hurt.

And as even those thoughts began swirling out of my head, I saw a bright flash of yellow light behind Yato's now fully blurry face. He was suddenly gone from my vision, and I strangely felt an emptiness in my stomach. I heard shouting, but nothing I could make out. What was there for a dead man to hear? Maybe it was the angels calling out to me, I'm not really sure if I believe in angels though.

But nevertheless, I hoped they were nice to me. As nice as my little friend Aura who always knew just what I could do to help. Or my friend Zinex who always knew how to make me laugh. Or… Yato… who… killed me...

Zinex's POV

Betrayal.

Through my numerous years of living, I had faced many things. Lying. Cheating. Stealing. Death. Murder. However, the worst feeling of them all, the worst one to be on the receiving end of was betrayal. To think that someone who could smile in your face, who could laugh along with you, who could be pretending to help you, could absolutely tear that bond out of your heart, and step on it. It was the worst feeling I had ever been subjected to, and this was one of those moments where it hit harder than any time before.

For I saw Yato had turned Cypher into a shishkabob.

I was in pure shock as I reached the hole in the wall, my sword nearly dropping from my hand as I simply stated at the horror before me. Cypher looked almost peaceful as Yato's cursed blade poked out from his back.

"How does it feel? To be so close to death?" Yato questioned in a snarling voice. I had to act quickly, I knew Cypher was so close to death he was almost kissing it. I could see the life slipping from his face.

What to do though? His heart was most probably stopping, which meant his brain would be slowing down too, he barely even had seconds left. What could possibly save him in this moment?

A bolt of pure lightning.

I lifted my hand up, and glowing yellow electricity enveloped my hand, forming into a small bolt in front of my hand. I knew making it too powerful would kill him, and making it too weak wouldn't get him away from Yato. So I met in the middle, then fired it off. It screamed over Yato's shoulder, scaring him into backing up slightly, and the bolt itself launched Cypher through the doorway, into the main hallways of Beacon. Yato spun around, his eyes now red and glowing with energy.

This was the power of the Devourer, one I knew very well. Unlike it's creator, who I knew nothing about, this energy was a powerful one, but it also came at a serious cost. It drained the very soul out of your body as you used it, in whatever way one wanted to think about it. It was a great power, with a great risk. The worst part, is that it was like a drug. Once you started to use it, being that you could figure out how, you couldn't stop. The worst part, is if the person had a strong enough soul, and the smarts to control it, along with the lack of self preservation...they could do some serious damage.

"Right on time." I heard Yato say in a cocky tone of voice, his muscles flexing as he looked at me up and down. "Well I suppose you are a bit early, but Cyphers dying anyways, everything is going according to plan."

"What the hell are you talking about Yato?" I questioned, my eyes narrowing in anger. This person was supposed to have been our comrade, but even so I had seen this coming. Ever since the warehouse I had been having sneaking suspicions that someone was spying on us, or that one of my own teammates was an enemy. It all just added up.

"Timing, Zinex, timing." Yato sighed shaking his head as his sword was engulfed in even more red energy. "Something I doubt you understand, so allow me to explain. You're drawn to your friends like a magnet, so it's only Natural that you would arrive here looking for us, and with Aura safe in the city, we were the only ones you'd actually look for. Predictability Zinex, you are so utterly predictable."

"I'll admit, you got me this time." I said as I jumped down from the hole, slamming my feet into the ground. "But it's funny you mention timing."

"What are you on-" Yato started to say then I raised my hand, and the entire world stopped around me. Yato. The roaring sounds of Grimm. The gunfire. Everything. Not a sound echoed through the world, and not a muscle or material was moved.

"Finally, some damn peace." I spoke softly, taking a deep breath. One second had passed.

I took a few steps forward as I glanced around the classroom. It wasn't unreasonable to believe that some trap had been laid for me here. If Yato had expected me here, that meant whoever he was working for also expected me to come here. Thus, 2 seconds had passed.

"If I were trying to trap me, how would I do it?" I muttered softly to myself as I continued to glance around. Nothing about the classroom seemed off. Nothing really seemed out of place. Besides the torn in half desks, the cracks in the walls, and the rubble that was strewn across the floor, nothing was odd. Thus 4 seconds had passed.

I turned my attention towards Yato, who face was absolutely contorted in hate. This wasn't an expression I had seen on his face before, and his red eyes also threw me off. I had seen the state of Devourer energy before, in a person very dear to me. It had transformed her into the absolute worst version of herself, however, it was a version I knew existed within her.

This version of Yato didn't feel like Yato at all, and as I came to this realization, 6 seconds had passed since the world had come to a grinding halt.

"Who the hell are you then?" I questioned to myself as I got really close to Yato, looking deep into his eyes, however I didn't see anything to clue me in. Perhaps he had put up a facade? Perhaps whoever was controlling him had been inside him all this time? These were simply questions I didn't have the answers to. Thus 8 seconds had passed.

I quickly walked behind him and pointed my sword at his back, and thus the world began to move again.

"-about?" Yato spoke, finishing his question, but then noticing that I had completely disappeared from the place I had been standing.

"I wouldn't move a muscle if I were you, I doubt even you would want me to gouge your heart out." I said in an extremely serious tone. This was no time for jokes. No time for playing around. This was a moment that I had to treat with the utmost amount of care.

"How did you do that?" Yato question through gritted teeth. I smiled a bit but kept my absolute concentration on him, I couldn't afford to make a mistake here.

"Seems you didn't find out all my secrets did you? Then again, I didn't tell anyone about that particular trick." I said pushing on his back slightly with the blade. It didn't feel like he was wearing any armor, which seemed absolutely stupid to me.

"You're hiding a lot of secrets aren't you _Zinex_. If that even is your name." Yato spat, in a tone of voice I knew was his. "I saw the data with my own eyes, you don't even have an aura do you? Everyone has an aura, everyone, but you don't? There's something that isn't right about you! You've been lying to us!"

"Seems that you've been lying too, Yato." I shot back, digging my blade deeper into his back, piercing his clothes and drawing a bit of blood. Then he started laughing maniacally, in a tone that was not his at all. I was confused at first, but then an explosion of red energy told me what had happened.

I had been an idiot, that's what had happened. So I guess it wasn't really anything new.

I flew into the stone wall that made up the area around the door, and cracked the stone, sliding down into the floor with a groan. I had made the mistake of drawing blood, a perfect outlet for the red energy. I felt around for my sword, the sheer timing of the event hadn't even gave me time to retract it back into my ring.

"Weakling, I'm beginning to think you look smarter than you actually are." I heard Yato's voice coo in a tone I had never heard from him before.

"I make mistakes too." I grunted as I got up to my knees, feeling extremely woosy.

"That is what makes you weak." Yato growled, and I finally glanced up and saw him stalking closer to me with that horrible blade. He had never drawn it before, and now I understand why he hadn't.

"No, that is what makes me human." I said, standing fully up and seeing that Yato had one his his boots on my blade, holding it to the ground with an evil grin.

"Human?" He questioned cocking his head to the side. "I'm not sure what your talking about, but I'm not sure it matters. Your precious blade is about to meet the same fate as Cypher's dear boomerangs did."

And then he swung the blade covered in that horrible red energy, and it slammed hard into the blade I had known for more years that I couldn't even count. However, despite what Yato had expected to happen, a loud ring blasted through the room. Both blades met and they both bounced off of each other, sending Yato's arms back towards where his slice had started, and launching the blade out from under his foot. My blade clattered, glowing ever so slightly white, which was odd coming from the black metal, as it slid towards my right hand. I quickly scooped it off of the ground, and took a defensive stance as I looked at Yato. He seemed locked in pure surprise as he looked at his foot, as if confused at where the blade had gone.

"Seems your the cocky one this time, huh Yato?" I smiled ever so slightly, and a scowl overtook his face, replacing the surprise. His glowing red eyes now radiating that odd red energy, his condition was getting worse. This told me all I needed to know about the blade, and I understood what he had meant by it being cursed.

"What kind of trick is this? This blade, along with the power inside, is supposed to be able to cut through anything." He spoke, anger rising within his face.

"Secrets… Secrets. I can't go around giving up all my secrets now can I Yato?" I laughed, looking to my blade. It had stopped glowing white, and honestly, I had never seen it glow like that before. How my blade had survived his strike was just as mysterious to me as it was to him.

"Fine, if a swordfight is what it comes down to, then a swordfight you shall have. Adam!" Yato's voice yelled loudly, as if calling upon a deity. I glanced around for a moment, but then as if melting from the shadows, a masked white fang member with pure red hair and a black and red suit walked out from the left side of the room, which was covered in darkness. He held a long, blood red blade, that looked like it had already been used.

"I was wondering when you were going to finish your fun, you did quite well with the brute, I'm sure he's dead by now." Adam spoke in a voice that seemed to be filled with pent up rage.

"You look angry, did something happen?" Yato questioned in an odd, rather coy voice. Adam's face twisted further in rage as he turned to me.

"Nothing that can't be fixed with this one's death." Adam growled. It unnerved me that I couldn't see his eye beneath the slits of his mask, and it seemed that he just exuded hate.

"I don't even know who you are, how could you possibly hate me enough to want me dead?" I questioned widening my arms towards the both of them.

"You took the lady he's had his-" Yato started to say, but then, faster than I could comprehend, Adam's red sword was at his neck, blood dripping down his throat. "Now, now, don't get so testy Adam."

"I didn't ask you to speak, puppet." Adam growled, turning his attention to Yato instead. It seemed he was even more dramatic than I was, which was a good thing for me. I tilted my blade towards him, my arms still wide, then focused all the energy in my body. I let electricity flow into the sword, then a loud boom echoed through the room, and my lightning bolt was free.

Then, as things often do, everything went wrong.

My lightning bolt, which had been perfectly aimed towards Adam, curved to the wall Adam had apparently been standing at, slamming into it and blasting sparks everywhere. For a moment, I was in pure confusion, but then I saw the wall light up with electrical energy. Whatever was in that wall had absorbed my electricity. Before I knew it, a sword was pointed at my throat, and there Adam was… right up in my face.

"That was… clever… how did you accomplish that?" I questioned as I felt the wind hit me, he was no joke at all.

"While you and your disgusting team were busy with our trap, we set up a little surprise to specifically defeat you. Your fighting prowess put a serious flaw in our plans, but with Yato's research, this set up, along with both of us fighting, should provide ample opportunity for us to gut you where you stand." Adam growled, then moved his face closer. "You took Blake away from me Zinex, and now I'm going to make you bleed every drop of blood you can bleed."

"Good plan, I must admit. Stripping me of lightning, outskilling me in every way possible, it's really outstanding." I said, smiling slightly as I glanced around. I was in an absolutely dire situation, the other way out would be my other power, but I could only use it one more time before they inevitably caught on, or worse, defeated me before it could recharge.

"I came up with it myself, of course, after we're through here Adam, you know we must collect Celestia again. I think gutting that Rain girl is necessary as well, she's a threat." Yato spoke with malice evident in his voice. His voice was enraging me.

"You'll have to get through me first." I said, smacking Adam's sword away from my neck and rushing in with a move he serious hadn't expected. I deactivated my sword then slammed my fist into his stomach, making him grunt loudly, then I gripped him by the neck and the wrist he held his sword in. I heard him yelled, but I slammed him into the ground quickly, only to have Yato come in from my right side. I left go of his throat, and my sword was already in my hand. I raised it, and blocked a downward strike from Yato's sword, which launched an explosion of red energy out as it collided with my sword, engulfing my hand. "No."

"Wouldn't it be easier to give in?" A voice whispered in my ear. It was an ancient sounding voice which seemed to lure me into fully listening to what it was saying. I shook my head quickly, then rolled forward, dropping my guard with Yato and letting Adam's hand go. As I rolled, I heard both of them yell as Yato nearly cut Adam, but they both recovered extremely quickly, as did I.

"You are quite strong, but you will fall to me." Adam growled, bringing his sword up, then swinging downward. Then, as if his blade extended itself, he slashed at my left arm, causing blood to gush out.

"Agh!" I yelled as I glanced to my left, seeing that he had found the small chink in my shoulder armor. I took a knee as blood flowed from the wound, gritting my teeth together.

"Feel my pain!" Adam yelled as he swung again, this time his sword somehow reaching my right knee, but luckily my armor took the brunt of the impact. However, as I looked down, I saw that he had made a gash in the steel-ACNR mix.

"Impressive." I growled as the lightning in my body forced my cells to close the wound in my shoulder, the stronger healing could easily be done later. I stood up and glared at my two opponents.

"You will die here fool." Yato growled, rushing forward, slashing his sword downward. There was no way that I was going to tangle with that blade again, whatever Yato was trying to do was not going to end well. I rolled out of the way, letting Yato slam his blade into the ground, releasing more of that red energy into the air, making it turn into smoke.

"Relent." I heard the ancient voice speak again within me.

"Never." I muttered as I got up to my feet, only to feel pain infect the entire right side of my face. I quickly put my left hand up to it, and felt a ton of blood dripping down my face. Adam had slashed downward on my entire face. I held my left hand to the long wound, urging it to heal, but Yato quickly rush forward to close the gap between us. He slashed upward at me, and there was nothing I could do but block his strike. An explosion rang in my ears as a cloud of red smoke enveloped me, making me feel extremely fuzzy.

Yato's face appeared through the smoke once again, and he was slashing at my right side. I quickly raised my sword up, easily blocking his strike. I shot my hand forward, smashing it into his nose, and making him stumble back.

I couldn't even begin to describe how good that punch had felt, but it was as if my entire body had exploded in dopamine.

"That's what you get!" I bellowed as I walked forward, a growl escaping from my throat. "You want to feel what I feel Yato!? You want to be like me?! Fine then, I'll give that to you."

"Cocky ba-" Yato started to growl as he rolled away into the smoke. I gritted my teeth hard, an iron taste developing in my throat, then I pointed my sword at where I thought he might be. A huge roaring sound came from my blade, but instead of yellow lightning as it normally would be, I noticed it was more red than yellow.

"What is going on?" I muttered softly, but then the masked face of my adversary, Adam, came from the smoke in front of me.

"The beginning, and the end of your true self." Adam said, then slashed forward faster than I could even comprehend. I tried to raise my sword, but he was just too fast. His sword slammed into mine and knocked me back a few steps. I flung my hand out and fired a lightning bolt, but it curved away from Adam, in a direction I simply couldn't see.

"What does that even mean?" I questioned loudly, but once again Adam disappeared within the smoke. I bellowed in anger, raising my hand once again and pulling from the power around me. "Die!"

Then a huge red lightning bolt ripped out from my hand, shaking the entire floor and blowing the red smoke away.

"Good… give in…" The ancient voice immediately said, as I saw what my bolt of lightning had hit. In front of me was Yato, lying on the ground shaking in pain on the ground, with burns all over his face.

"It burns… it burns!" He screamed loudly, looking to me with only one eye, as the other was burned shut. That immediately woke my brain up, what the hell had I done? "Why would you do this?!"

"Y-you betrayed us but… I didn't…" I tried to say but then a sword slid its way right into my stomach from the back. Pain seared its way into every part of my abdomen, and I felt a scream of pain fire from my throat.

"You are nothing but a weakling Zinex, unfit for Blake, and unfit to live." Adam's voice whispered into my ear. He then ripped his sword from my stomach, and pushed me to the ground. Pain like nothing I had felt before shot through my body, and dizziness consumed me. I hit the ground with a flop, as blood poured from my stomach and face. "It's a miracle you even made it this far without dying, but thanks to you, our plan is going to go smoothly. With Yato, Cypher, and you dead, there is going to be nothing stopping us."

"I… I-" I tried to respond, but it was no use, my voice had simply given out.

"Don't even bother speaking Zinex, it's of no use to waste your last breaths on threats or sarcastic comments. Just die peacefully." Adam chided. I looked up at him and saw a smile under the mask he wore on his face, with his sword dropped to his side. He knew he had beaten me. He knew he had won.

I knew he had won. After all this time, after all these battles I had fought, after all the people I had tried to save.. This was simply it. This was my end.

Or so I believed.

"Die!" A loud voice said from my distant left, then a sword went flying above me, right into Adam's arm, and right through it, cutting off a large piece of his left shoulder. He screamed in pain, stumbling back. I glanced over to my left and saw that Yato was standing up, clutching his face with his left hand, letting only his right eye remain visible.

"How… dare you!" Adam bellowed, and with a quick suddenness, a brutal cut opened from Yato's stomach, causing him to topple over, and slam into the ground. I tried to yell to Yato, but my voice came out as nothing more than a whisper. I watched as he withered in pain slowly, small gasps exiting his mouth. It was painful to watch, painful to even be able to watch, but I didn't have much choice… I was barely alive myself. "You two asked for suffering, so I'll leave you to do so… I hope your souls burn for what you did to me!"

And with that, he ran past both me and Yato, and out of the large hole Yato had made, carrying both his sword and the sword Yato had possessed, leaving us both to die. I looked to Yato, seeing that he was just barely alive and I climbed towards him slowly. I held my stomach with one hand, trying to force my body to heal, then with my other hand I clutched at the rubble that remained of the room we were in.

"Yato… bu- bud." I tried to get out, but only whispers remained of my voice. I got closer and closer to him, seeing him wither in pain slowly. He grunted and let out small screams, but it sounded more and more like he was fading, but then again that could have just been my own mind slowly fading away. I was at my own limit, using all the energy I had left within me to push myself forward and towards Yato. I put a hand on his arm, after finally reaching him, intending to give him the energy I had left.

"Don't… try." I heard Yato say softly, full of pain, as he turned to try to face me. "You don't have enough energy for the two of us, don't be stupid."

"I'm not just going to leave you to suffer." I whispered to him, trying to be as loud as I could, but he shrugged my arm off.

"You can't… expect me to live anymore after that…" He said bluntly, and weakly. "I nearly… killed Cypher… and you… I sold all of Beacon out… I got so many people killed…"

"It couldn't have been you… I can't believe you." I whispered, as he turned his one good eye to me. Pain filled the single eye, along with remorse.

"It was me… my mother got ahold of me… and I was too weak to fight it." He said then hissed in pain as he tried to move.

"Don't move. Let me help." I whispered, but he pushed me away.

"No… you need to live, not me. The world needs you, the others need you." He said, and I saw a year escape from Yato's eye. "I won't let you throw all that you are away for a traitor, for the scum that I am."

"Please Yato." I said pulling myself back up and trying to go towards him.

"Tell Yang I never stopped loving her, tell her I'll always be with her, and the others too." He said, more years flowing from his eyes. He then brought his fist up and then his last act was to bring his fist down, into the ground...creating an explosion so large it flung me back, and reduced him to nothingness. This ended the story of Yato, the explosive hero who wanted nothing more than a good time.

And I wept, even though my body had healed enough so I escaped death, I still felt pain in my entire body as the smoke cleared and my friend wasn't there. I slammed the ground with my hand and screamed his name, but of course there was no way he was coming back. I clutched the ground, and kept crying. Why did this always have to happen? Why did I always have to gain all these friends, only for them to die around me?

But that was a question I could never answer.

After a while, I finally picked myself up, ignoring the sounds of explosions, guns, and even Grimm. I picked my sword up from the ground and looked at where Yato had been. I said a silent prayer, then began limping towards the exit, away from everything. I had caused his death… I had been his killer, and that was something I could never change.

Something I never could live with.

This was truly the end of AYZC. The others would surely blame me, would surely hate me. What was the point of being a savior of all I ever did was kill those around me.

And with that, I left Beacon behind, even before the bright white light ended the battle.


	30. Chapter 30: Remnants AYZC

A rain had fallen over Beacon, over Vale, and even the whole world. No, this rain wasn't exactly literal, except in a small town just north of Mistral, but rather a rain of pain. Anguish. Darkness. Hate.

All of the emotions the Grimm fed off of culminated into this horrid picture that overtook Vale and Beacon. From the fall of the Atlus warships, to the innocents killed in Beacon and Vale, to the horrible show that the Vytal festival had put on...things for the kingdom of Vale were...Grim in both a literal and figurative way.

But alas, the fight drove on, the pain sunk deep, and the emotions flew high. The great huntress and hunters had fallen from grace, just as their previous academy had. Hope had fallen right out of their hands, and if the White Fang and the horrible villains that hid behind them, controlling them, had torn it from them. This was how Aura visualized what he saw as he turned back to the city of Vale, which was overrun to the brim with Grimm of all kinds. He was devastated as he held onto Rain, who was helping to support Aura, as he had suffered just as many others had.

"Aura we have to stop, your going to injure your leg further if you don't stop." Rain said in a worried tone as she glanced at Aura's right leg, seeing the weird twist and deep gash where blood was just barely being held back by a makeshift bandage.

"I can't Rain...we failed in Vale...I can't fail my team. I know they're here…" Aura said in pain as he looked up towards the school, where the huge Grimm that had attacked them before was circling. He was vaguely aware that something was happening at the spire of the tower, but that wasn't exactly his main concern.

"That wasn't our fault, there were too many of them Aura…" Rain said softly as she continued to support the man that she loved physically. Aura's family had stayed behind, tasked with helping the normal populace make it out safely along with Qrow. This was a mission Aura knew he had to walk however, but of course he never walked alone. He knew Rain was by his side, after all they were bound by mind and soul.

"My team… we have to…" Aura said, his breath heavy and weak. He had pushed himself further today than he had any other day in his life. After all, this was no longer a penultimate event. This was the culmination of all he had learned to this point.

And he knew he wasn't ready for all this to end.

However, as he approached closer and closer to Beacon tower, and the school itself, it was evident to him that this was an end. This had been more serious than any other event in his life, and he felt that deep within his soul.

"I'll always stick to your side, you know that I will. Let's go find the others." Rain smiled to him, but it was clear that even she was worn beyond worn. Bags under her eyes, and wrinkles around her face immediately told Aura that they really had to be careful. He glanced back to the school, making it to the top of the hill where Beacon stood and stared deep into the school.

He wished for nothing more than to hear Yato's stupid laughter, to hear Cyphers friendly tone, or even to see the yellow hair of the first real friend he had ever really had in his life.

But nothingness was all that consumed his vision.

Fire, broken rubble, and various Grimm and Hunter/Huntress fighters took over the main area. The once great statue that Zinex had made art with was broken, laid to waste by the Grimm that had invaded. The beautiful trees that Aura had once found himself in during the first day they had been here, was nothing more than ashes on the ground. Then, the front doors, which held so much history and beauty to Aura and so many others, were nothing more than shattered rock and rubble.

This was the state of Vale. This was the state of Beacon Academy. This was the state of darkness.

"Aura look out!" Rain yelled as a Grimm jumped towards them. This was an Ursa, and it was bloodthirsty, ready to prey on Aura's fear...on the darkness in Aura's heart. However, Aura's face changed into that of anger, of rage. Mythrid Truths appeared in his hand, and he quickly split it apart and spun around, forcing his blades as deep as they could go into the Grimm's heart and head. It gargled for a moment as it was stopped in midair, blue energy surrounding its body. It disappeared shortly after, fading into the cold air that seemed to take over Vale. Aura dropped his blades, and nearly fell over, but Rain was there to catch him. "Aura stop pushing yourself or you'll get hurt."

"I won't fail to protect us." Aura said, looking at her dead in the eye with a slight look of defeat, and anger.

"You haven't failed. Not ever. You saved me all that time ago from certain demise, and ever since then you've helped me beyond anyone else I've ever had in my life. You can't do it alone though Aura. We means both of us." Rain said, running her hands over Aura's jawline as he looked down at the ground, littered with rubble and broken weapons."

"So many people have lost their lives today." Aura said softly.

"I know, I know. We did all that we could." Rain assured Aura, as she pulled him closer. Aura started tearing up slightly as Rain kept watch. For herself, she finally noticed the pure destruction that had come over everything. Then she saw more black drops fall from the sky, slamming into the ground around them, then forming into various Grimm, some that Rain had never seen before. What she did know was that there were way too many of them to even hope to defeat. Maybe if they already hadn't fought a hundred Grimm, they could have won but Rain knew they had no hope. "Aura...I love you."

"I-I love you too Rain." Aura said gripping harder on her, glancing up and seeing what Rain saw. Nearly 20 Grimm surrounded them, all closing in slowly as if they were stalking prey.

Then again, they were prey.

"Is this…" Aura started to question, but Rain pulled his head closer to her then put her own head on his, closing her eyes.

"Together forever...right?" Rain said, taking a shaky breath.

"Forever and ever." Aura spoke softly, fear evident in his voice as well. Rain held onto him tighter.

"I really don't want to leave this place." Rain said as the Grimm growled extremely loudly, the sound of pounding footsteps indicating that The Grimm were attacking.

"Not so fast." A friendly voice said, and suddenly, the Grimm stopped. Aura quickly opened his eyes and pulled up, seeing not only Ruby and Weiss, but also a number of other Hunters and Huntresses at the scene, beginning to fight the Grimm.

"Ruby! Weiss!" Aura yelled in happiness and Rain smiled. Today would not be the day they died, but they day they were saved.

"At your service!" Ruby cried as she sliced on of the Grimm into nothingness, flying up into the air. She then landed next to the two lovers, and gave them a smile, one that Rain returned. "Say that leg looks pretty bad, you should really get it fixed."

"I can't...I have to find my team." Aura insisted as he looked into Ruby's eyes, a sense of seriousness within them. "They're somewhere in there...and they aren't responding."

"How about me and Wei-" Ruby started to say but Aura waved his hand.

"No, I can't ask that of you. I need to do this." Aura said insistently.

"But you can't go alone Aura...you need medical help." Ruby pointed out, which just made Aura grit his teeth.

"I'll help!" A voice said from behind Aura, and there was Celestia, the one with the earth semblance.

"Celestia!" Rain cried in happiness. She hadn't been seen since the invasion of Grimm and White fang, but here she was before Aura and Rain.

"Ruby, I know you have your own mission. I'll help them, you go on ahead." Celestia said to Ruby, and she nodded, running off with Weiss towards the main entrance of the school. Celestial then turned and faced Rain and Aura, smiling slightly. "Let's go find our friends."

"Right." Aura smiles back softly, nodding his head then turning towards the front of the building, seeing that the Grimm had been pushed off, and were now reduced to nothing but atoms, despite the large flying Grimm at the top of Beacon Tower.

The three then ventured forwards, towards the entrance of the building, determination in their vision to find both their friends, and to figure out what was going on at the root of this invasion. While the safety of their friends was a current priority to Rain, what made her more worrisome was the root of this horrible situation they had found themselves in. As they entered the school, this very fact became even more evident to them.

"How could this have happened..?" Rain questioned softly to herself as she looked at the ruined entrance hall.

Aura couldn't help but see all the memories they had made here. All the times he and Zinex had argued over random topics, all the times the four of them had trained. All the times he had watched Yato and Yang make out in this specific area. Lastly, all the times he had been feeling down, and Cypher was just there to comfort him, even before Rain had come.

Gone were those times, reduced to rubble much like the school was. Even Aura recognized it at that moment.

"Which hallway should we go through Aura?" Rain asked, looking at the various halls that broke away from the main hall. Aura glanced at her, then quickly closed his eyes, trying to reach his mind out with all that he had, but not being able to see anything but Rain and pure blackness. For some reason this put a weird feeling in his gut. He didn't know the range on this newfound ability, but he hoped with everything the weird feeling was just the blood he had lost.

"That one, to the left. That was the way we took to the dorms." Aura said, pointing in the direction of the hallway. It was plainly obvious that the hallway was in disarray, filled to the brim with rubble and pieces of the broken ceiling. There were even the broken bodies of their fellow students, students they had been in class with.

"T-this is horrible...Celestia...can you…" Rain tried to ask, but a quick look at Celestia's face told her that there was absolutely nothing that could truly be done.

"If I could do something, I would, but they are all...gone." Celetia said, and even her gothic appearance was broken at that moment as a few years broke from her eyes.

"AYZC…" Aura muttered as he broke free from Rain and began to limp run down the hallway. Rain and Celestia called after him but it was absolutely of no use. Aura knew in his head by this point that if his team had survived this horrible invasion that they were sure to be injured. He could live with the injury he had now, but they might only have a small amount of time left. "ZINEX! YATO! CYPHER!"

But there was no response as he tore down the hallways.

He called again.

And called again.

Again and again until his voice felt horse.

Again and again until tears caught within his eyes.

Everything had been so good. He had finally found his family, and found a family within AYZC, Rain, and even Celestia. Why did this have to happen? Right when things were going great?

"Please! Say something!" Aura shouted as he tore into an area where all the classrooms were. He remembered running down these halls the very first day, when they had been as late as they possibly could have. "Please...you all can't be gone."

But once again there was no response but the ones that Aura remembered in his head.

He pushed further and further, the bandage on his leg falling apart more and more as he kept trying to run. As he ran, memories filled his head of all the good times they had endured together. He wished they would stop, he didn't want this to feel like some sort of ending. Like some sort of finale to his own story. He had finally got somewhere, made friends he knew that he could count on, and lived the life he had finally deserved.

"Where...where are you?!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, tears now full within his eyes. He crossed hallway after hallway, classroom after classroom until he began to see blood, and fire. He quickly reached out with his mind, trying to find any hint of his friends.

But he did not like what he found.

He quickly pulled his mind away from the scene, terrified by what he had viewed. He didn't want to believe it. He kept running forward, seeing the blood, the fires, and the rubble from a major battle that had taken place. Smoke filled this part of the hallway, so seeing more than a few feet ahead wasn't even possible.

"Zinex...Yato...Cypher…" Aura called between coughs. He tried to look around himself, making sure he was following the hall correctly, but then he began to notice scorch marks on the wall he knew all too well. "Zinex...no…"

And then he saw the absolute most horrible thing he could have feared.

"Cy-cypher…?" He questioned with a shaky tone, his eyes going wide as he realized the blood that he had been stepping in was Cyphers blood, and the body he had found himself in front of was that of his brute friend. Cypher was absolutely beaten to a pulp. Torn flesh on his face, his body, and a small hole in the middle of his stomach told of a story worse than any horror legend. He fell to his knees and put a quick hand on Cyphers arm, trying to shake him awake. "Wake up buddy...please...wake up."

He quickly reached out with his mind and tried his absolute hardest to reach out to Cypher. He searched hard through the blackness, but eventually after looking hard enough, he saw a small spark where the Cyphers body would be. He quickly shot his eyes open, and looked behind him.

"Celestia! I found him! Cypher is here! Barely alive!" Aura shouted as loud as he could, wishing that he hadn't left them behind, or rather, wishing they had kept up with him.a

He turned back to Cypher and put a hand to his shirt, where the sword would was, then pulled the clothes away from it and ripped off a piece of his hoodie. He quickly used his semblance to make the piece of cloth perfectly straight and flat, then put it to the wound, making sure it confirmed to the wound and held pressure correctly. "C'mon, you have to make it."

"Aura!" He heard a voice yell from behind him and he quickly turned, but the smoke just blocked his view.

"I'm right here! Hurry! Cypher is-" He started to say then he heard a large explosion that shook the very ground he was kneeling on. He glanced up and noticed that it had come from his left, down a hallway he couldn't see at all. Pieces of rubble smacked him in the face and cut up his already bruised face. He groaned loudly but didn't release his semblance at all...Cyphers life was more important.

"Aura!" Rains voice screamed and suddenly he was tackled with a hug, and then suddenly Celestial was on the other side of Cypher, looking down at his body with a seriously worried expression.

"What happened here?" Celestia questioned, horrified.

"I tried my best to dress the wound but-" He started to say but Celestia quickly raised her hand.

"Quiet Aura, I need to focus. I've never brought someone back who was this far on the edge." Celestia spoke quickly, swiping hair away from her eyes then turning her brown eyes firmly on Cyphers stomach. She then positioned her hands just around the wound in his stomach then closed her eyes. Simultaneously a brown energy surrounded her hands and immediately Cyphers breathing started to pick up slightly.

"Rain, I have to push forward towards the explosion, I have to see if Zinex and Yato are close." Aura explained, rising to his feet and trying to leave but Rain quickly grabbed his wrist and gave him a warning look.

"Aura, you're injured, you ca-" She started to say but Aura shook his head in defiance.

"Rain, if they're injured, I can't just let them die. You of all people should know that I can't leave them behind." Aura said, urging her with his eyes. For a moment she didn't let go, but then, defeated, she dropped her hand then looked back to Cypher.

"I'll protect Cypher and Celestia, they'll need it with all those Grimm's and White Fang. Not to mention whoever did this to him." Rain spoke standing up, but still not facing him. An odd silence passed between them as Aura kept his gaze upon her. She then turned to him and tears were all over her pale face. "You better come back to me in one piece."

"I'll never leave you, just like I said." Aura insisted with the most serious voice he could muster. She nodded in understanding then turned towards the entrance of the hall, to the opposite of where the explosion had been. Aura however, turned towards where the explosion had come from. He had known Zinex for quite some time, as well as Yato, and he knew that they were always at the source.

He then heard a scream that pierced his faunus ears, right from the direction he was heading in. Aura quickly picked up the pace, sprinting towards the scream. He passed more and more classrooms, but these all seemed to have taken the brunt of an impact he didn't understand. Scorch marks littered the floors and walls, but these scorch marks had a red tinge to them, even on the colored paint of the walls.

"Zinex!" Aura yelled, but he was drowned out by a crashing noise. This part of the building was falling apart, due to the fires that had overtaken this wing. Another rumbling shook the entire building, and released a piece of the burning ceiling close to Aura, nearly killing him. However, he kept pushing towards his goal. Towards the sounds of screams, and the explosion. He was sure he would find his friends there, waiting for him with grins on their faces.

And then he made it to the room that he had heard the explosion from.

And he saw the pure damage that had taken over this room. A cloud of red smoke hung in this room, potent with hate and anger, with power yet also weakness. He walked closer...closer towards the horrible scene.

And then he saw it.

There was one of Yato's arms, sitting right at the door, blown off of his body.

"No...no!" Aura yelled, but fear seemed to clog his throat. He looked up, hoping to see Yato just injured, or maybe to see Zinex trying to heal him. But of course, Yato wasn't there. Yato just a few minutes before had lost his life, and who was the person that took it?

As Aura continued to scan around the room, horror in his eyes, he saw a figure with torn clothing. He was walking towards the exit, only about a hundred feet away from Aura, holding a very familiar sword.

"Z-Zinex?" Aura spoke softly as he stared at the figure walking away from him. He couldn't believe his eyes, but as he stared, he knew that it was his long time friend by this point. The mannerisms, the walk, and the signature sword that he always used. He reached his hand up, about to try to call for him, but then his eyes reached Zinex's other hand. In his hand was Yato's head, mouth agape as if he were screaming. Aura's voice quickly caught in his throat as he saw it, he could speak, he couldn't yell, he couldn't move.

But as he watched Zinex walk away, out of the school, and into the grassland that surrounded it...there was only one explanation.

Zinex had killed Yato.

Zinex had betrayed AYZC.

Zinex had betrayed Vale and Beacon.

And quickly, his friend had become his enemy.

Thus ends the tale of AYZC. Once Remnants hidden heroes, gone just as quickly as they had come together. Torn apart by injury, weakness, betrayal, but most importantly, darkness. The very darkness that rules fear, and even the Grimm, had ruled that AYZC should die, and die it did.

And so the darkness rose.

And so the light was extinguished.

Thus ends the story of AYZC. In memoriam of Yato Umi. A great partner and friend.


End file.
